Coronavirus: US overtakes China and Italy with most cases

The United States now has the highest number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the world with more than 85,500 positive tests.

According to the latest figures collated by Johns Hopkins University, the US has overtaken China (81,782 cases) and Italy (80,589).

This grim milestone came as President Donald Trump predicted the nation would get back to work “pretty quickly”.

Of these 85,500 confirmed cases in the US, 1,300 of them have died. Therefore the US death toll lags behind China (3,291) and Italy (8,215).

The countries’ numbers are changing constantly and both the totals and the rank order of countries could change at any time.

The spike of cases has hospitals around the country scrambling to keep up with the demand for care.

A registered nurse described what she has experienced inside a Long Island hospital and the toll that caring for coronavirus patients is taking on health care workers as reported by CNN. ” I haven’t slept because my mind won’t shut off. I cried in the bathroom on my break, as I peeled off the PPE from my sweaty self, mask indentations on my face. I cried the entire ride home,” the nurse wrote in a social media post.

The nurse, whose name CNN is withholding, says patients are streaming in with “non stop coughing, sweaty, fevers” and with “fear in their eyes. “I cry for the ones who passed away. I cry because we intubated 5 patients within 10 min and im terrified. I cry for my co workers, because we know it will get worse and I already feel like that is impossible and we are already at our breaking point, I cry for the parents, children, siblings, spouses who cannot be with their loved ones who may be dying but cant have visitors because there is no visiting allowed,” the nurse added.

SOURCE: BBC, CNN