U.S. Surpasses China In Number Of Coronavirus Cases To Become Epicenter Of Pandemic

The New York Times: The U.S. Now Leads The World In Confirmed Coronavirus Cases
Scientists warned that the United States someday would become the country hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. That moment arrived on Thursday. In the United States, at least 81,321 people are known to have been infected with the coronavirus, including more than 1,000 deaths — more cases than China, Italy or any other country has seen, according to data gathered by The New York Times. The Times is engaged in a comprehensive effort to track the details of every confirmed case in the United States, collecting information from federal, state and local officials. (McNeil, 3/26)

Reuters: U.S. Has Most Coronavirus Cases In World, Next Wave Aimed At Louisiana
With medical facilities running low on ventilators and protective masks and hampered by limited diagnostic testing capacity, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, rose beyond 1,200. “Any scenario that is realistic will overwhelm the capacity of the healthcare system,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told a news conference. He described the state’s projected shortfall in ventilators - machines that support the respiration of people have cannot breathe on their own - as “astronomical.” (Caspani and Trotta, 3/26)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Coronavirus Cases Surpass Those Of China, Italy
World-wide, there were more than 555,400 cases Friday, according to Johns Hopkins data. Testing for the new coronavirus hasn’t been uniform across the U.S. or globally, which affects total case counts. Hospitals in U.S. hot spots including New York and Seattle have passed a tipping point, as a relentless surge in cases forces some to move patients to outlying facilities, divert ambulances and store bodies in a refrigerated truck. Fatalities in the U.S. from the new coronavirus topped 1,296 Friday. (Ansari, Calfas and Wong, 3/27)

CNN: US Coronavirus: America Has Most Known Cases Worldwide, But Experts Say It's Just The Beginning Of The Battle 
"This is going to be the disaster that defines our generation," said Collin Arnold, director of the city's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Jefferson and Orleans parishes, which make up most of metro New Orleans, ranked among the top seven counties nationwide in deaths per 100,00 residents for areas reporting 100 cases or more. And at least 3,000 were expected to be tested Thursday. (Maxouris, 3/27)

The Washington Post: U.S. Deaths From Coronavirus Top 1,000, Amid Incomplete Reporting From Authorities And Anguish From Those Left Behind
In the first 1,000 fatalities, some patterns have begun to emerge in the outbreak’s epidemiology and its painful human impact. About 65 percent of the dead whose ages are known were older than 70, and nearly 40 percent were over 80, demonstrating that risk rises along with age. About 5 percent whose ages are known were in their 40s or younger, but many more in that age group have been sick enough to be hospitalized. Of those victims whose gender is known, nearly 60 percent were men. (Hauslohner, Thebault and Dupree, 3/26)

The Washington Post: Men Are Getting Sicker, Dying More Often Of Covid-19, Spain Data Shows
Cristian Guaman Benítez, a 33-year-old electrician who moved to Spain from Ecuador, had been sick for a week with a cough, a terrible headache and a fever as high as 104 degrees. He saw three doctors who treated his illness like a cold, prescribing medicines and sending him back to work. Finally, he called the number for covid-19 information, and a doctor came to his home to examine him — and sent him by ambulance to Madrid’s 12 de Octubre Hospital. Which was where he discovered he was an outlier. (Mooney and Rolfe, 3/26)

Reuters: Coronavirus Could Kill 81,000 In U.S., Subside In June - Washington University Analysis
The coronavirus pandemic could kill more than 81,000 people in the United States in the next four months and may not subside until June, according to a data analysis done by University of Washington School of Medicine. The number of hospitalized patients is expected to peak nationally by the second week of April, though the peak may come later in some states. Some people could continue to die of the virus as late as July, although deaths should be below epidemic levels of 10 per day by June at the latest, according to the analysis. The analysis, using data from governments, hospitals and other sources, predicts that the number of U.S. deaths could vary widely, ranging from as low as around 38,000 to as high as around 162,000. (O'Donnell, 3/26)

The Hill: Birx Cautions Against Inaccurate Models Predicting Significant Coronavirus Spread 
White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx cautioned Thursday against models that predict alarming increases in coronavirus infections and deaths in the U.S. Birx, speaking at a White House press briefing, singled out a recent study on the United Kingdom that originally predicted 500,000 people would die from the virus and has since been revised down to predict 20,000 deaths in the U.K. She said the data the government has collected does not show that 20 percent of the U.S. population would be infected with COVID-19, cautioning against predictions that say so. (Chalfant, 3/26)