US Sees Lowest Coronavirus Death Tally in Two Weeks
The United States recorded the lowest number of coronavirus fatalities in two weeks on Monday, days after the number of deaths jumped to 4,591 in one day.
The United States death toll hit 42,364 after 1,433 died from the virus on Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins.
The data showed that after a sharp spike in deaths last week, there has been an average of 600 fewer deaths than previous days.
The recent data comes as many states approach the end of their stay-at-home orders and consider reopening the economy.
President Donald Trump published guidelines for states to reopen their economies “one step at a time, rather than all at once,” according to a White House fact sheet.
White House officials, however, have cautioned the president against opening the economy too soon.
“It would be a disaster if it opened up too early, and again, we have a double curve and double spike in cases and in deaths and we are back to where we were before,” an anonymous White House official told NBC News.
Other experts have warned that reopening the country too early without the availability of widespread testing could also create another spike in cases, Fox News reported.
“If the goal is to restart the American economy, the United States isn’t performing anywhere near enough tests. Worse still, we are testing the wrong people,” oncologist Ezekiel Emanuel and economist Paul Romer wrote in Defense One.
“To safely reopen closed businesses and revive American social life, we need to perform many more tests — and focus them on the people most likely to spread COVID-19, not sick patients.”
However, Georgia and South Carolina are already moving to reopen businesses in their states.
As of Tuesday, Georgia had 19,881 cases of the coronavirus with at least 798 fatalities.
Schools in the state will stay closed for the rest of the school year, but gyms, hair salons and other similar businesses will begin to reopen on Friday, Fox News reported.
“Given the favorable data, enhanced testing, and approval of our healthcare professionals, we will allow gyms, fitness centers, bowling alleys, body art studios, barbers, cosmetologists, hair designers, nail care artists, estheticians, their respective schools and massage therapists to reopen their doors this Friday,” Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said.
Kemp added that his state would also expand COVID-19 testing and hospitals had enough personal protective equipment to resume elective surgeries.
As of Tuesday, South Carolina had 4,439 cases of the coronavirus and 124 fatalities.
In a Monday executive order, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster said public beaches could be reopened for public access at the discretion of local leaders and said certain nonessential businesses could begin reopening at 5 p.m. on Monday as long as they followed social distancing measures.
The United States leads the world in the number of coronavirus fatalities, closely followed by Italy which had 24,648 fatalities as of Tuesday morning, according to data from Johns Hopkins.
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