Surging COVID-19 cases shows Americans not following social distancing : White House Response Coordinator

White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Deborah Birx

Washington DC [USA], Apr 3 (ANI): The surge in number of the coronavirus cases in the United States reveals that Americans are not following the Trump administration’s social distancing guidelines, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Deborah Birx said on Friday.

“I can tell by the curve that not every American is following it (social distance guidelines),” Birx said during the White House ‘s daily coronavirus briefing.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the country is now leading the world with more than 2,42,000 confirmed cases and 5,850 deaths. Nearly 30,000 new cases were registered within the last 24 hours. “When the president (Donald Trump) put out guidelines 16 days ago, that was serious. And you can see what happened subsequently.

And you can see the number of individuals affected since then. The people we are seeing affected today – and in hospitals today – were infected after the guidelines went out,” said Brix. She further said that the upward trajectory in the US has compelled Trump to extend the social distancing guidelines for 30 days.

At the Coronavirus taskforce briefing, White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro said that Trump administration will soon issue an order to crack down on the sale of COVID-19-related medical supplies in the black market, which has been driving the cost up for supplies.

“What is going to happen tomorrow is the president (Trump) is going to sign another order which is in the works. It is going to empower Customs and Border Protection with the help of people like the Post Office and express mail like UPS to basically deal with that issue.

We are going to crack down unmercifully,” Navarro said. Trump also announced a new set of guidelines for nursing homes to combat coronavirus . The new guidelines are an addition to previous guidelines that instructed nursing homes not to allow any medically unnecessary visitors.

As per the new guidelines, nursing homes should assign the same staff to care for the same group of residents consistently to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the global tally of the total number of people infected by coronavirus as of Friday crossed 1,000,000 and the death toll from the disease exceeded 50,000, as per the data provided by Johns Hopkins University. (ANI)

US President Donald Trump

US to crack down on COVID-19 medical supply black market

US President Donald Trump will issue an order on Friday to crack down on the sale of COVID-19-related medical supplies in the black market, White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro said during a press briefing. “What’s going to happen tomorrow is the president is going to sign another order which is in the works,” Navarro said in the briefing on Thursday.

“What it’s going to do is it’s going to empower Customs and Border Protection with the help of people like the Post Office and express mail like UPS to basically deal with that issue.

We are going to crack down unmercifully.” Navarro said there is a black market springing up amid the pandemic for medical equipment essential to deal with the novel coronavirus, such as protective gear, which has been driving the cost up for supplies.

Navarro added that the domestic sources being sold in the black market in the United States are being exported to foreign purchasers. Navarro urged hoarders of medical supplies in the black market to contact the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to sell equipment to the government at a fair price.

The number of COVID-19 cases worldwide has exceeded one million with more than 52,800 deaths as of Thursday afternoon, according to the Johns Hopkins University. The United States has confirmed more than 242,000 cases and 5,850 deaths. (Sputnik/ANI)

Trump again tests negative for coronavirus

US President Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus a second time. “This morning, the President was tested again for COVID-19 , utilizing a new, rapid point-of-care test capability. He is healthy and without symptoms. Sample collection took just one minute, and results were reported back in 15 minutes,” White House physician Sean Conley wrote in a memo.

The President tested negative for COVID-19 , The Hill reported. At the Coronavirus taskforce press briefing, President Trump announced a new set of guidelines for nursing homes to combat coronavirus. The new guidelines are an addition to previous guidelines that instructed nursing homes not to allow any medically unnecessary visitors.

As per the new guidelines, nursing homes should assign the same staff to care for the same group of residents consistently to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 . In addition, the President said the administration would recommend that nursing homes “designate separate areas for healthy and sick residents.”

Trump said this is a practice that health agencies were likely to continue recommending “long into the future.” His guidelines come after more than 140 nursing homes across the country have been hit by COVID-19 , as per CNN. He also said that guidelines on wearing masks as protection from the disease are also expected soon.

Asked about whether people should wear masks, Trump recommended the use of scarf as it is thicker than the masks. He said, “If people wanted to wear them (masks) they can. In many ways, the scarf is better. It’s thicker.” “I think they’re going to be coming out with regulations on that. And if people want to abide by them, frankly, I don’t think they’ll be mandatory.

Because some people don’t want to do that. But If people want to — as an example on the masks — if people wanted to wear them they can,” Trump said. The United States is the worst-hit country with as many as 242,182 confirmed number of cases and 5,850 deaths.

On Friday, the global tally of confirmed cases worldwide crossed the one million mark and the death toll due to the coronavirus exceeded 50,000 as per the data provided by johns Hopkins University. (ANI).