The US has now surpassed China and Italy — two countries hit hard by the coronavirus — with at least 82,100 reported cases, but several health officials and experts say it’s still the beginning.
“We are in for a bumpy ride for the next 12 to 18 months,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. “If we are aggressive now about stopping things, shutting down, building up a test regime, we can then open up again …. and most places can go back to work.”
“But only when we are ready. And we are nowhere near ready now,” he said.
When President Donald Trump said he hopes to have Americans back at work by Easter, he was making an “aspirational projection,” said Anthony Fauci, one of the country’s top health officials.
“He’s listening to us when we say we really got to reevaluate it, in real time, and any decision we make has to be based on the data,” Fauci said.
But as the days go by, the numbers of reported cases across the country continue to skyrocket — especially in areas like New York and California, where officials have ramped up testing, servicing thousands of residents in days.
One week ago, the US had nearly 18,200 cases and 241 deaths. As of Friday morning, CNN’s tally added up to at least 82,100 cases and 1,195 deaths.
A little less than half of the country’s cases are still in New York, where 385 people have died and hospitals are overwhelmed, with many already low on staff and running out of equipment.
But experts say other areas in the country seeing a spike in cases are raising concern.
“Right now, what’s happening in New York, in California, in Washington state, we’re going to see that in Louisiana, we’re going to see that in Florida, we’re going to see that in Arizona,” Jha said, also adding Dallas, Texas, to the list.
“There’s a lot of places coming that I’m very worried about.”
Source: US has the most coronavirus cases, but experts say it’s just the beginning of the battle
