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While the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in the United States was recorded in January 2020 in Washington state, it was the Northeast that was most affected by the disease in the spring. New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island had the highest per capita cases and deaths, of any state in this period, between March and May 2020.
“It was hell,” said Dr Brian Strom, chancellor of biomedical sciences and health for Rutgers in New Jersey, who said health facilities in the area were overwhelmed, facing shortages. tests, personal protective equipment for staff, ventilators and beds for patients, and even a space for the dead.
“The situation got so bad that we asked for a parking space for body bags,” he said.
Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases which would be put in the spotlight, said the coronavirus could kill 100,000 to 200,000 people in the United States while infecting “millions” of other.
As of March 2020, cases emerged in more than a dozen states and countries around the world, and the World Health Organization declared the epidemic a pandemic. As Trump’s White House sought to downplay the severity of the outbreak, many state officials had taken drastic measures to curb the spread of the virus.
California issued the first stay-at-home order on March 19, and within a week 21 other states issued similar orders.
Dr Brad Spellberg, chief medical officer at Los Angeles County Medical Center-University of Southern California, said he believed the stay-at-home order helped avert a spring outbreak in the state.
“It kept us from becoming what happened in New York in the spring. I think if we had waited another week or two we would have been completely overwhelmed like New York was, ”he said.
Home orders, which shut down bars, restaurants, schools and all businesses other than those deemed “essential” by states, have caused unemployment to skyrocket. Just under 300,000 people applied for unemployment benefits the week before the California stay-at-home order. The week of the order, that number rose to over 3 million.
In Louisiana, cases exploded after Mardi Gras celebrations. These cases would presage what was to come as spring break gatherings spread the virus deeper into the country.
As some states tried to take action to reopen, officials encountered obstacles that would repeat themselves in the months to come: Lockdown fatigue would prompt many to ignore protective measures and congregate in large groups.
“If you look at the data, as soon as the county closed in March of last year, cases started to slow down. And they really slowed down in April and May,” Spellberg said. “And then in June things started to improve, probably because people were tired of the lockdown.”
June-August 2020: the menu changes
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