More Than 30,000 People in the U.S. Have Died From Coronavirus
Deaths from a new coronavirus surpassed 30,000 in the United States Friday, making the country's toll the highest in the world.
The U.S. has been dealing with the new coronavirus outbreak for more than a month and several governors and local officials across the country have extended their stay-at-home orders. They've acknowledged people are growing frustrated with the restrictions on their lives but maintain that they are necessary to save lives.
As of Friday morning, 33,288 people in the U.S. died from the virus, according to a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University. Initial projections from the White House Coronavirus Task Force expected between 100,000 and 250,000 deaths in the U.S.
Those projections, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, are only as good as the information being used to create them. Now, the U.S. is looking at an estimated 60,000 to 70,000 deaths, a number that is reflected in projections from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
"We believe we will experience far fewer deaths than even the optimistic projection," Trump said during a Thursday press conference. "But there is no such thing as an optimistic projection on death. One person is too many."
Fauci, as well as Trump, have attributed the lower projections to the American people following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as adhering to their state's social distancing policies.
Four months after the new coronavirus was first identified, it has infected people on every inhabitable continent. It has taken the most significant toll on the U.S., where there have been more than 671,425 cases
In New York, the epicenter of the outbreak, Governor Andrew Cuomo extended the state's lockdown measures until May 15. With 14,502 deaths, according to the tracker, the state has had almost half the total number of deaths in the U.S. Although it appears the death toll is trending downward, Cuomo urged all New Yorkers to continue staying home whenever possible and required them to wear a mask in public if they couldn't properly distance themselves from others.
"It's our behavior, it's our level of discipline...what we're willing to do to safeguard others in our community," the governor said. "That's what makes all the difference."
New York's southern neighbor, New Jersey, has also seen an extensive outbreak and of its 75,317 cases, at least 3,702 have died, according to the tracker.
New Jerseyans are also required to wear masks in public, a measure that is in place in Michigan, the state with the third-highest death rate, as well. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said she is hoping to ease some restrictions on May 1 but told Good Morning America Friday that it's hard to say for certain what the next two weeks will bring.
For some states, such as New York and New Jersey, two states that have gone "through Hell," according to Trump, a reopening may be a while off. However, for others, such as Arkansas and Idaho, where there have been relatively few deaths, getting people back to work may be easier.
