April 28, 2020 — A roundup of the latest news about COVID-19
The predicted death total moves upward; still no national testing policy; and a potentially deadly, long-term effect of the pandemic emerges. Get the latest news on coronavirus in the U.S. and everywhere.
As of this morning, we’ve had well over 3 million confirmed cases, 212,000 deaths, and over 900,000 recoveries around the world. The U.S. is poised to pass 1 million cases today. More than 56,000 people have died in this country, and almost 112,000 have recovered.
The White House released a “blueprint” for increasing testing capacity that largely leaves the responsibility at the state level. Health and economic experts said the current patchwork of testing efforts is insufficient to allow the economy to reopen safely.
Even as he downplayed the threat, President Trump’s intelligence briefings included at least a dozen separate warnings about the coronavirus in January and February.
In the early weeks of the coronavirus epidemic, the U.S. recorded an estimated 15,400 excess deaths, nearly two times as many as were publicly attributed to COVID-19 at the time.
The World Health Organization issued a warning about supply disruptions, seeking to step up shipments of diagnostic tests and protective equipment to areas where COVID-19 is spreading, especially Latin America.
Brazil is emerging as potentially the next big hot spot for the coronavirus amid President Jair Bolsonaro’s insistence that it is just a “little flu.”
Add another item to the list of products in scarce supply thanks to the pandemic: sympathy cards.
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