Wednesday, 01 Apr 2020 09:47 AM MYT
Nearly half of the new fatalities were in New York state, the epicentre of the pandemic despite closed businesses and deserted streets. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pleaded for immediate reinforcements in the country’s biggest city from the Trump administration. White House medical experts say 100,000 to 240,000 people could ultimately perish from the respiratory disease in the United States, despite unprecedented orders by state and local governments largely confining Americans to their homes.
In Los Angeles, the city’s massive convention centre was being converted to a federal medical station by the National Guard, Mayor Gil Garcetti said on Twitter. In California, the most populous US state, the number of coronavirus patients has surged over the past few days, with more than 7,600 cases confirmed as of yesterday and 150 deaths.