The resumption of the United States will not take place at Easter, as the American president had wished. On Sunday, March 29, Donald Trump acknowledged that the peak in the number of coronavirus-related deaths would occur in two weeks, precisely during Easter weekend. Under these conditions, it extended until April 30 the recommendations for social distancing, established at the federal level.
Gloomy prospects do indeed loom over the country, which currently has, according to official figures, some 2,400 dead and more than 140,000 people infected, an underestimated figure due to the delay in screening and the lack of tests. Little known for his cookie-cutter statements, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, and one of Trump's pandemic advisers, said on Sunday that the disease could ultimately do "100,000 to 200,000 dead" Across the country. A figure taken up by the American president … to congratulate himself. If the figure of "2.2 million dead" predicted in the worst-case scenarios was eventually reduced to 100,000, this would show that, "All together, we did a good job", said the president. The day before, Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the task force at the White House, had for her part assured "That no state, no big city would be spared".
New York remains to this day the metropolis hardest hit by the epidemic, with 1,026 deaths recorded Sunday evening. Democratic governor of the state Andrew Cuomo, who has been alerting the hospital plight and equipment shortage over the course of regular arms deals with the President, expects deaths " by thousands ". The state now has more than 2,000 people in intensive care. This weekend, a field hospital was set up in Central Park by the Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse.
Retirement homes, the first sources of infection
Louisiana, and more specifically the city of New Orleans, is also particularly affected by new sources of infection. The governor said on Sunday that the state’s health services could be overwhelmed in the coming days. With 151 deaths and 3,540 known cases of infection, Louisiana is, after New York State, the second most affected in proportion to its population.
