Coronavirus USA: Death Toll, Total Cases As Nation Is Gripped By Critical 2 Weeks

The coronavirus continues to take a devastating toll on public life, with the Centers for Disease Control this week recommending that people wear masks to mitigate the spread of the disease. There are at least 278,779 coronavirus cases across the U.S., with the domestic death toll at 7,170 as of Saturday at 2:25 p.m. ET.

The epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S. is New York, with 103,772 cases and 2,935 deaths. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday that his state is “not at the apex” of cases and they are “not ready” for the high point of infection. He stated that New York has not received its order for 17,000 ventilators. Cuomo also said that the unfilled order was likely due to global shortages and competition for the devices.

Aside from New York, there have been a high number of cases in Washington state and California. There are growing concerns that Michigan, Florida and Louisiana will see a surge in cases. There are eight governors who have yet to issue statewide stay-at-home directives.

President Trump continues to spar with governors across the country over his coronavirus response. He said that some states have been complementary of the actions of the federal government but there have been some “complainers.”

“Some have insatiable appetites & are never satisfied (politics?),” Trump tweeted Thursday, referring to states which are critical of his administration’s handling of the crisis. “Remember, we are a backup for them. The complainers should have been stocked up and ready long before this crisis hit.”

In the early stages of the outbreak, Trump made efforts to downplay the virus and compared it to the flu. He has also claimed that Democrats were politicizing the virus and that this was their latest “hoax” to attack him.

Trump has since shifted his stance, claiming that he is a “wartime” president and calling the virus an “invisible enemy.” He has declared the outbreak a national emergency.

Several countries have been hard hit by COVID-19, including Switzerland, Italy and Spain.