Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.
Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has killed at least 340 people in the United States as of Sunday morning, according to virus tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins. Worldometers reported that at least 348 had died. These numbers were changing rapidly.
Last week, more people died in the United States than any time since the virus was first reported in Washington state. Just six days ago on March 16, there were just about 86 people dead from coronavirus. More than 250 people have died between then and now and experts predict gloom in about three to four weeks.
At least 94 people have died in the state of Washington, 76 in New York, 28 in California, 20 in Louisiana, 20 in Georgia, 13 in Florida, 16 in New Jersey, 5 in Texas, 6 in Illinois, 6 in Colorado, 4 in Oregon, 3 in South Carolina, 8 in Michigan, 3 in Ohio, 3 in Missouri, (1+2) in Washington D.C., 5 in Connecticut, 4 in Indiana, 3 in Virginia, 2 in Wisconsin, 3 in Kentucky, 2 in Vermont, 2 in Massachusetts, 2 in Kansas, 2 in Nevada, 2 in Pennsylvania, 3 in Maryland, 1 in South Dakota, 1 in Mississippi, 1 in Oklahoma, 1 in Tennessee and 1 in Grand Princess Cruise.
The dead are counted through a complex process. For instance, officially, only one person has died in Washington D.C. But two other persons who died elsewhere seem to be counted under Washington D.C.
In addition, at least 26,900 people have been infected in the United States and a minimum of 178 patients have so far recovered.
Worldwide, at least 13,557 people have died as of Sunday morning, and 314,106 in total have been infected while 95,874 people have since recovered. These numbers were bound to change quickly.
What’s the government doing?
President Trump on Wednesday signed into law a multibillion-dollar emergency aid package aimed at helping Americans impacted by the coronavirus, as per The Hill.
“The House-passed measure was approved by the Senate earlier Wednesday and includes provisions offering paid leave benefits for Americans, bolstered unemployment benefits and free diagnostic testing for the virus,” the newspaper added.
