‘Window is closing’ for America to get the coronavirus pandemic under control, as global cases pass 10 million

Trump’s health secretary warns US to take action and get pandemic under control, as global cases surge past 10 million.

People enjoy the beach in Miami Beach, Florida, which reported a state record of 9,585 new coronavirus cases on Saturday Picture: AFP

The number of worldwide confirmed coronavirus infections passed ten million yesterday (Sunday) and deaths from the virus exceeded half a million.

Less than six months after the health authorities in Wuhan, China, first reported patients falling ill because of a mysterious new virus, COVID-19 has now spread to more than 170 countries, becoming the most disruptive global pandemic in modern history and one of the deadliest.

Although the rate of new infections has receded in east Asia and Europe, the first regions to be affected, cases are multiplying rapidly in South Asia, Africa and particularly Latin America where Brazil, the second most affected country, reported 38,693 new cases on Saturday. Peru, Chile and Mexico have all climbed into the top 11 countries globally by cases.

The medical team of the Brazilian Armed Forces arrives at the Cruzeirinho village, near Palmeiras do Javari, in northern Brazil, to assist the indigenous population amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Picture: AFP

The global centre for both overall infections and fatalities remains the United States, which has recorded more than 2.53 million cases and 125,000 deaths, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

The Trump administration’s health and human services secretary, Alex Azar, said that time was fast running out for the country to get to grips with the pandemic.

“Things are very different from two months ago,” he told the CNN program State of the Union. “This is a very, very serious situation and the window is closing for us to take action and get this under control.”

Health Secretary Alex Azar says the "window is closing" for the US to get the Covid-19 pandemic under control, as confirmed cases rise across the nation https://t.co/xtslf6YMZY

— CNN (@CNN) June 28, 2020

Case numbers rose last week in 36 out of 50 states. Only two – Connecticut and tiny Rhode Island – reported a reduction in infections. On Friday the country had a daily record of 40,173 cases reported. The virus is now making deep incursions into rural areas too.

In three of the country’s biggest states by population – Florida, Texas and California – governors have reversed some recent steps taken towards reopening their economies in the face of new outbreaks.

In California, the governor, Gavin Newsom, rolled back reopenings of bars in seven counties, including Los Angeles. He ordered them to close immediately and urged eight other counties to issue local health orders mandating the same.

Politics has been complicating the response, particularly the looming presidential election. President Trump has refused to wear a mask in public (unlike Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic party nominee) and has pressed governors to accelerate their timetables for relaxing lockdown restrictions in the hope of resuscitating the country’s economy in time for the final stretch of the campaign.

Unlike the presumptive Democratic party nominee, Joe Biden, pictured speaking at an event in Pennsylvania, President Trump has refused to wear a mask in public. Picture: AP

Last week Mr Trump travelled to Phoenix, Arizona, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, for indoor rallies which were largely mask-free and not socially distanced.

President Donald Trump on stage at the largely mask-free and not socially distanced, campaign rally at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Picture: AP

There are growing indications, however, that his chaotic approach to tackling the virus is costing him support among older conservative voters.

No Democrat has won the majority of older people for 20 years and Mr Trump, 74, claimed the over-65s by a seven-point margin four years ago.

However, new polling by The New York Times and Siena College showed that he is tied with Mr Biden, 77, among that demographic and that Mr Biden leads by a six per cent margin with those voters in the six most important battleground states.

Nursing home deaths account for the majority of COVID-19 fatalities in at least 24 states and for 43 per cent of US deaths overall.

Mr Trump has linked rising case numbers to improved testing.

In Florida, which reported a state record 9,585 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, comparable to New York during the virus’s peak there in April, the Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, also blamed widespread testing for inflating case numbers.

However, Tom Frieden, the former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a government agency, said that the national pattern indicated an actual growth in infections.

People eat in the outdoor dining area of a restaurant on Ocean Drive in Miami Beach. Picture: AFP

The virus “still has the upper hand,” he told Fox News. “As a doctor, a scientist, an epidemiologist, I can tell you with 100 per cent certainty that in most states where you’re seeing an increase, it is a real increase.

Americans may be sick and tired of staying at home, but the virus is not tired of making us sick. Unless we act fast to boost our capacity to test, isolate, contact trace, and quarantine, we won't control this virus. https://t.co/iIySgPQ7JL

— Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) June 27, 2020

“It is not more tests; it is more spread of the virus. Hasty reopenings, notably in Florida, Texas and Arizona, meant that the case load was “going to continue to get worse for weeks”.

10 million diagnosed and reported #COVID19 cases globally and 500,000 deaths. Math doesn’t lie. Given what we know about the case fatality ratio, there have undoubtedly been more than 100 million infections with SARS-CoV-2. That leaves 7.7 billion people vulnerable.

— Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) June 29, 2020

Lean into a left hook, get hit hard. Open when cases increasing, expect a big increase in #COVID19. Spoke with @FoxNewsSunday's Chris Wallace on #FNS. Clip here: https://t.co/iYRMDq0oRK

— Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) June 28, 2020

The published numbers could be “a tip of the iceberg”, he said. The CDC said last week that the actual number of people infected is likely to be ten times greater than the reported figure, based on antibody tests.

The Times