As China resumes flights in and out of Wuhan, countries in the west are struggling to deal with just how contagious the virus really is. The strict lockdown measures that had people around the world raising eyebrows is now being implemented globally as countries step up in the fight against the pandemic. As nations conduct testing more aggressively, numbers are rising with each passing day, but so are the number of fatalities.
Italy, the epicentre of the virus in Europe, is THE worst hit country in the world with over 69,000 cases resulting in 6820 deaths. Triple digit deaths on a daily basis has become the norm as the country is left with no choice but to shut down factories and production lines. While there have been signs of the worst being over, some believe that the lack of testing masks a total that is a lot higher than what is being touted.
Elsewhere in Europe, Spain is has now surpassed China’s death toll with 3434 deaths from 47,610 positive cases. This is in spite of an unprecedented lockdown imposed on March 14. It’s gotten to the point where the Spanish army has been called in to join the efforts as the nation tries to flatten the curve and ease the burden on an already strained healthcare system.
With hotels being turned into hospitals and funeral services overwhelmed, Spain needs all the help it can get. The country just recently turned to NATO for “international assistance“, requesting 450,000 respirators, 500,000 rapid testing kits, 500 ventilators and 1.5 million surgical masks to help curb the spread of the virus.
Further west, the USA is fast closing in on Italy’s total number of cases. There’s currently 60,557 cases in the USA, with 30,811 of those in the state of New York alone. The county has suffered 819 fatalities from the virus and with a complete moron as President and a seeming lack of preparation for just how infectious the virus is, the country could very well become the worst hit nation yet.
A new poll has shown that 50% of Americans don’t think their government is prepared for the coronavirus. 50% of them are absolutely spot on. With such weak leadership at the federal level, it’s time for state governments to step up and take the lead as much as they can, much like New York Governer Andrew Cuomo has done. The politician has somewhat emerged as an authoritative voice in the crisis just as the US senate finally put politics aside and came to an agreement on passing a 2 trillion USD coronavirus aid package.
*All numbers on the Covid-19 pandemic were sourced HERE.
