US President Donald Trump gives a press briefing about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) alongside members of the Cor…Read More
WASHINGTON: Terrifying estimates of people already infected by coronavirus (up to 500,000 in the US alone) along with projections of those likely to be affected (upwards of 200 million) are making the rounds even as the US government is pulling out all stops to arrest its progress.
US lawmakers passed an emergency economic relief bill in the wee hours of Saturday, lining up billions of dollars for paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, and free testing, while the American healthcare system, panned at the best of times, is bracing for hordes descending on clinics and hospitals amid a growing sense of dread and rapid social distancing.
Such an apocalyptic scenario might appear unlikely given that only about 2200 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the US so far, but health care experts are warning that number is just those who got tested and recorded positive, and the actual number who already infected and untested could be 100x that number.
Disease modelers are projecting that anywhere from 2.4 million to 21 million people might require hospitalization in a country with less than 1 million hospital beds, with expectation that more than 200 million could be affected if the measures government authorities are rolling out