Experts warn of 'tremendous deaths' as COVID surges in 31 states and rise for FOURTH consecutive day

A leading expert on the immune system has warned of ‘tremendous deaths’ from COVID-19 across the United States unless lockdowns are reimposed in states currently seeing a surge in cases.

More than 70,000 Americans tested positive for the virus on Friday – the fourth consecutive day that the number of confirmed cases broke a new record.

On Saturday, five states and territories set a record for coronavirus-related hospitalizations: Puerto Rico, North Carolina, Alaska, Florida and California. 

A doctor is pictured in Houston, Texas, informing relatives of a patient who died. Texas is among the states to have a soaring toll from the coronavirus

A doctor is pictured in Houston, Texas, informing relatives of a patient who died. Texas is among the states to have a soaring toll from the coronavirus

The number of new infections broke another record on Friday - the fourth consecutive rise

The number of new infections broke another record on Friday – the fourth consecutive rise

Medics try unsuccessfully to save the life of a COVID-19 patient in Houston, Texas

Medics try unsuccessfully to save the life of a COVID-19 patient in Houston, Texas

California is averaging 91 reported deaths per day while Texas is close behind with 66. 

Florida, Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey and South Carolina also saw sizable rises.

And 33 states have this week seen their number of cases rise, Axios reported.

The U.S. is the world's hardest-hit country

The U.S. is the world’s hardest-hit country

Dr Robert Lahita, clinical professor of medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, urged states with increasing caseloads to rethink their reopening. 

He told CBS on Friday that there will be ‘tremendous deaths’ in those areas and said it was a ‘very good idea’ to impose new lockdowns.

He said: ‘I’m hoping that the governors use some common sense and close up again.

‘It comes close to irresponsible, reopening, until we have absolute proof that the disease is under control.’

He said that he fears doctors and experts have been ‘pushed to the side’ and re-openings have become an ‘economic issue’. 

‘I understand that some of these meetings at the governors’ mansions have included eight businesspeople versus one epidemiologist or one doctor,’ he said.

‘Prioritization for a lot of the governors are to get the economy rolling again.’

Donald Trump has emphasized the need to re-open the economy, ahead of the November election.

Yet even he had to accept the reality of the virus on Saturday, and wear a face mask during a visit to the Walter Reed medical center.

It was the first time he’d been seen in public wearing a mask. 

Donald Trump on Saturday wore a mask in public for the first time, at the Walter Reed hospital

Donald Trump on Saturday wore a mask in public for the first time, at the Walter Reed hospital

Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida, reopened on Saturday to welcome guests

Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida, reopened on Saturday to welcome guests

Wearing face masks, guest could once again enjoy rides such as Thunder Mountain

Wearing face masks, guest could once again enjoy rides such as Thunder Mountain

Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom reopened on Saturday, despite a surge in the number of Floridians testing positive for the coronavirus.

The state set a record of nearly 500 confirmed deaths from COVID-19 this week. 

The latest data means that, with more than 3.2 million cumulative cases in the United States, more people are infected than the population of 21 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico, according to data from the US Census Bureau.

More people in the U.S. now have COVID-19 than live in Chicago, the country’s third-largest city.

Texas, Arizona and South Carolina are now being buffeted by the pandemic.

The three states have all seen their death tolls rise by more than 100 per cent in the past four weeks, according to an analysis of state and county health data by The Washington Post on Friday. 

Four more states – Mississippi, Tennessee, California and Louisiana – have seen at least a 10 per cent jump in that time span.

Texas set four records on Saturday: new single-day cases, seven-day average of cases, seven-day average of deaths and hospitalizations.

The Corpus Christi fire department conducts COVID-19 test for first responders Wednesday

The Corpus Christi fire department conducts COVID-19 test for first responders Wednesday 

Gravediggers hard at work in Avondale, Arizona, on Wednesday, as COVID-19 ravages the state

Gravediggers hard at work in Avondale, Arizona, on Wednesday, as COVID-19 ravages the state

Motorists lined up to be tested for COVID-19 in a parking lot at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles

Motorists lined up to be tested for COVID-19 in a parking lot at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles

Houston area hospitals are reaching capacity, with some patients being treated in ICU wards. 

In Arizona, Phoenix is bringing in refrigerated morgue trucks as the existing facilities overflow. 

After mid-April, the daily death toll declined as shutdown orders took effect across the country and the virus curve began to flatten. 

The low point came July 5, with 217 recorded coronavirus deaths – the lowest toll since March 24.

Since then, amid record-breaking case numbers in several states, the death count has begun to rise, surpassing 800 deaths each of the past four days to Friday.

Nicholas Reich, a University of Massachusetts biostatistician who aggregates more than 30 epidemiological models to create a forecast of the coming weeks of the pandemic, on Wednesday predicted that by August 1, the country would see its death toll rise to 147,466.

That would mark an increase of about 16,000 over two and a half weeks.

‘The model’s best guess is that we will see a slow and steady increase in new #COVID19 deaths in the US over the next four weeks, between 3,800 and 5,000 per week. 

‘This captures declines in some states, and increases in others,’ Reich wrote on Twitter.

A woman in Arizona has her temperature checked on Friday before a COVID test

A woman in Arizona has her temperature checked on Friday before a COVID test

Cases of COVID-19 are rising in 33 states this week, with the south and west hard hit

Cases of COVID-19 are rising in 33 states this week, with the south and west hard hit

source: dailymail.co.uk