Coronavirus update: 247,400 cases, 10,067 deaths, California on lockdown
The U.S. is wrapping up the first full business week feeling the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, with restaurants, bars, parks, retailers and workplaces shut down in many cities across the nation.
There are now 14,250 cases of the novel coronavirus in the U.S., and at least 205 people have died in 25 states, according to the most recent data from the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering’s Centers for Systems Science and Engineering. The number of U.S. cases has more than doubled since Wednesday, though public health experts have cautioned that Americans will likely see a jump in cases as the number of available tests increases.
At least 44,872 tests for COVID-19 have been conducted by public health organizations in the U.S., as of March 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, now that at least four major diagnostics makers have said they are making tests for the novel coronavirus, it is expected to make millions more tests available in the U.S.
The state of California on Thursday issued a mandatory, stay-at-home order, excepting individuals who work in “essential services” such as pharmacies, grocery stores, takeout restaurants, banks and laundromats.
At the same time, demand for service types of workers and services is growing even as jobless claims rise. Walmart Inc. WMT, -3.061% is giving small cash bonuses in the range of $150 and $300 to employees, while it seeks to ramp up hiring, by adding 150,000 new workers. The meal-delivery kit company Blue Apron Inc. APRN, -28.661%, which is also hiring at two of its fulfillment centers, told MarketWatch it is seeing a sharp uptick in demand.
In Washington, D.C., the Trump administration is testing out new ideas, such as potentially expanding access to antimalaria drug chloroquine as a potential treatment for COVID-19 through the Food and Drug Administration’s compassionate use program. At least three drugmakers — Bayer AG BAYRY, 2.887%, Mylan MYL, 6.994%, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. TEVA, 7.810% — have upped production of chloroquine products. In the case of Mylan, it is restarting a manufacturing line altogether. That said, chloroquine has not been designated a proven COVID-19 treatment by the FDA as it has not received an approval for this indication.
Worldwide, there are now 247,400 cases of COVID-19 and at least 10,067 people have died. More than 86,000 people have recovered after being sickened by the disease; nearly 70% of those recoveries have been in China.
In Western Europe, case counts continue to rise. Spain has 18,077 cases and 833 deaths, Germany has 16,290 cases and 44 deaths, and France has 10,891 cases and 371 deaths. Italy, which last updated its case counts on Thursday, has 41,035 cases and 3,405 deaths. More people have died from COVID-19 in France now than in China, which has reported a total of 3,253 deaths. The total number of cases in China, which have dramatically slowed there, is 81,250.
Other nations with high COVID-19 rates are: South Korea, which now has 8,652 cases and 84 deaths, and Iran, which has 18,407 cases and 1,284 deaths.
