Image by Vektor Kunst iXimus from Pixabay

Like Us on Facebook

About two months ago, the United States reported its first case of COVID-19 infection. A man who returned from China.

Now, the country has the highest cases of confirmed infections compared to any country in the world. The total number of infections even surpassed that of China, where the epicenter of the virus was, and Italy which was the epicenter in Europe.

With cases across 50 states, the US now has a total of 85,653 confirmed cases as of Thursday night. To compare, China has 81,782 and Italy has 80,589.

US reported 11,656 new cases in the past 24 hours. China only had one case of local transmission and 54 new imported cases. Italy has 5210 new cases.

Deaths, however, remain the highest in Italy. The European country has 7,505 total fatalities while 685 people died in the past 24 hours. The US' total deaths are at 884 with 211 deaths within the past 24 hours. China has 3,393 total deaths with only 6 deaths in the past 24 hours.

While the balloon in infection can be attributed to America's population, with 330 million residents and the third most populous nation, critics are saying the people were also not quick to follow quarantine measures in place. Parties and large gatherings went on despite the crisis.

New York state is becoming the epicenter in the US with 37,258 overall cases plus 6,400 new cases as of Thursday - this is close to about 50% of the overall cases in the country. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the spike in cases is driven by the previous backlog of infections which had not been confirmed due to lack of testing.

385 people died in the State on Thursday, up from 285 the previous day. Based on his observation, patients who spent a long time on a ventilator are most likely the ones who don't recover. The governor said 5,327 people were hospitalized, 1,290 are in ICU, and 1,517 have recovered.

Cuomo said the $2 trillion stimulus package approved by the government may not be enough to compensate for the economic loss incurred due to the outbreak. New York City is about to receive $5 billion while businesses have already lost $15 billion.

Meanwhile, New Orleans is shaping to become the next epicenter of the virus in the US. It now has 2,300 cases with 83 deaths. Spike is still expected since the Carnival celebration in February went on even with the risk of the virus already present at the time. More than 1 million people attended Mardi Gras, neglecting calls for social distancing.

Infections are also worrying onboard the Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. There are now 23 sailors infected. Plans are now in place to test all the 5,000 sailors.

Twenty states have now imposed tougher stay-at-home orders and closed non-important businesses.

Here are the COVID-19 numbers per state as of March 27:

Alabama: 531 (one death)

Alaska: 59 (1)

Arizona: 508 (2)

Arkansas: 349 (2)

California: 3,006 (65)

Colorado: 1,430 (24)

Connecticut: 1,012 (21)

Delaware: 143 (1)

District of Columbia: 267 (3)

Florida: 2,353 (28)

Georgia: 1,643 (56)

Guam: 45 (1)

Hawaii: 106

Idaho: 189 (3)

Illinois: 2,538 (26)

Indiana: 645 (17)

Iowa: 179 (1)

Kansas: 168 (3)

Kentucky: 248 (5)

Louisiana: 2,305 (83)

Maine: 155

Maryland: 580 (4)

Massachusetts: 2,417 (25)

Michigan: 2,856 (60)

Minnesota: 346 (2)

Mississippi: 485 (5)

Missouri: 502 (8)

Montana: 90

Nebraska: 73

Nevada: 420 (10)

New Hampshire: 137 (1)

New Jersey: 6,876 (81)

New Mexico: 136 (1)

New York: 37,258 (385)

North Carolina: 636 (2)

North Dakota: 52

Ohio: 867 (15)

Oklahoma: 248 (7)

Oregon: 316 (11)

Pennsylvania: 1,687 (16)

Puerto Rico: 64 (2)

Rhode Island: 165

South Carolina: 456 (9)

South Dakota: 46 (1)

Tennessee: 957 (3)

Texas: 1,424 (18)

US Virgin Islands: 17

Utah: 402 (1)

Vermont: 158 (9)

Virginia: 460 (13)

Washington: 3,207 (149)

West Virginia: 51

Wisconsin: 707 (8)

Wyoming: 55

TagsCoronavirus COVID-19, US Infections, Italy and China