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Thursday, March 28, 2024

U.S. coronavirus death toll tops 50,000

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U.S. coronavirus death toll tops 50,000
U.S. coronavirus death toll tops 50,000

With the U.S. coronavirus death toll topping 50,000, Georgia, Oklahoma and a handful of other states took the first tentative steps at reopening for business on Friday.

This report produced by Jonah Green.

The U.S. death toll from the novel coronavirus reached 50,000 on Friday.

That figure -- the highest in the world -- doubled in the last 10 days, according to a Reuters tally.

Since the first recorded death in February, the virus has completely transformed American life -- leading to stark images like these, with lawmakers in Congress wearing masks, nurses pleading for protective equipment, eerily empty city streets, and refrigerated mobile morgues lined up to house the dead.

About 875,000 Americans have contracted the highly contagious respiratory illness.

And the true number of cases are thought to be higher.

As are deaths, as most states only count hospital and nursing home victims and not those who died at home.

While President Trump initially downplayed the threat... (FEB 26, 2020) (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING: "We have a total of 15 cases...and the 15, within a couple of days, is going to be down to close to zero." He then warned of mass deaths: (MARCH 30, 2020) (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, "So you're talking about 2.2 million deaths!" (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) REPORTER, SAYING: "Do you take any responsibility for the 50,000 deaths that have happened in this country?" (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING: "I think we've done a great job.

As you know, minimal numbers were -- minimal numbers -- were going to 100,000 people." A Reuters tally found that on average about 2,000 people have died everyday this month.

So far there's still no proven therapy, a vaccine is nowhere in sight, and many states say that testing is not near the levels needed to reopen their states.

And yet some states have said they plan to begin reopening their economies over the coming weeks.

Health experts and some governors have warned that a premature easing of restrictions could trigger a surge in new cases.

(SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) NEW YORK GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO, SAYING: "What happens?

That's what happens.

All the progress we've made is gone...I know everyone's impatient.

'Let's just reopen'.

That's what happens if we just reopen." And besides – Americans say they aren't ready to end their hibernation.

A Reuters/Ipsos survey this month found that a bipartisan majority of Americans want to continue to shelter in place to protect themselves from the coronavirus, despite the impact on the economy.

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