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The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus and deaths are going up each day. That, of course, is alarming.
Summary
- A total of 1,789 people have died in the UK as of 17:00 BST on 30 March – a rise of 381
- American Airlines, one of the world’s richest carriers, says it will apply for $12bn (£9.7bn) in government aid
- British Airways is suspending all flights from London’s Gatwick airport, the UK’s second busiest
- There have been more than 800,000 cases worldwide, with 38,000 dead; 170,000 have recovered
- In the US, three out of four people face some form of restriction
- Spain records highest number of fatalities in a single day – 849
- The World Bank says “significant economic pain seems unavoidable” in the Asia Pacific region
NY Governor: ‘We underestimated this virus’
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has called again for more supplies, a better national strategy to fight Covid-19 and for residents to stay at home.
“We underestimated this virus. It’s more powerful, it’s more dangerous than we expected,” he emphasised.
The state, which remains the epicentre of the outbreak in the US, desperately needs more equipment and staff.
Cuomo called for a nationwide strategy where states helped mitigate the peak of the crisis together.
“Come help us in New York, get the equipment, get the training, get the experience, and then let’s all go help the next place,” Cuomo said.
“That would be a smart national way of doing this and showing that unity.”
He criticised the “inefficient” US process for ordering ventilators, describing it as “being on eBay with 50 other states bidding on a ventilator”. He added once the federal government got involved and was bidding, prices continued to go up.
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The governor also addressed his brother CNN anchor Chris Cuomo’s Covid-19 diagnosis.
“He’s a really sweet, beautiful guy, and he’s my best friend,” Cuomo said.
“There’s a lesson in this. He’s an essential worker…so he’s been out there. If you go out there, the chance that you get infected is very high.”
Other key updates:
New York has now reached 1,550 deaths from 1,218 yesterday
Experts are predicting the peak will be in the next 14 to 30 days
The state has 75,000 hospital beds in total as hospitals have added to their capacity, but there is an anticipated maximum need of 140,000 at the apex
The state could need anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 ventilators depending on the severity of the apex; despite ordering 17,000 from China, Cuomo is expecting 2,500 to arrive due to high global demand
Cuomo claims the state is leading the nation in developing new medications and therapies
New York is also working on a new diagnostic test.
Italy death toll is 837 in past 24 hours
taly has confirmed 837 more deaths from coronavirus, taking the country’s total to 12,428 – the highest toll in the world.
There are 2,107 new infections compared with Monday’s figure of 1,648. The official total now is 77,635 current cases. That’s a 2.8% rise in positive cases, slightly up on Monday. BBC Rome correspondent Mark Lowen says while deaths are still high, the infection rate is far lower than previous days.
Italy’s government says 15,729 people have recovered from the virus. But among the dead were 66 doctors.
