A vaccine for the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) could be at least one and a half years away, a public health expert from the University of Haifa warned on Sunday. Photo by Kobi Richter/TPS on 27 February, 2020
1. Cases in the globe now total 374,833 with 16,379 deaths. The United States saw an increase of 26.2% cases with the third largest totals in the world at 42,691. Meanwhile New York State continues its surge, reporting over 20,875 cases with 157 deaths-a 32.2% increase. New York City continues to remain the epicenter with over 12,000 infected with NYC ER Dr. Craig Spencer reporting that more than 90% of patients had Covid-19.
2. Governor Cuomo has ordered state hospitals to increase capacity by 50 percent with the city desperate for ventilators. More than 30,000 retired doctors have volunteered their help in combating the disease. New York has increased its testing from 1,000 a-day 10 days ago to 16,000 a day. New York State is now tied with Italy which both have 105 cases per 100,000 residents. The City is releasing 23 more inmates amidst a jail virus outbreak.
3. The Dow Jones Dived Again with a 582.05 point decline-closing at 18,591.93. The S&P 500 similarly went down 2.93% closing at 2,237.40 with the Nasdaq closing at 6,860.67-a decline of .27%. The Democrats again blocked a key vote on the $2 trillion stimulus package as near-pandemonium broke out on the partisan Senate floor. The House Democrats are planning to introduce their own $2.5 trillion stimulus plan.
4. Italy reported 602 new coronavirus deaths-a decline from the previous two days-with its death toll reaching 6,077 and total cases at 63,928-the highest in the world. In the UK, the number of deaths have increased by 54 bringing the total to 335 out of 6,650 total cases. Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a stay-at-home order sending the UK into lockdown to fight the pandemic, and announcing police will break up public gatherings and fine those flouting rules. Johnson said, citizens were only permitted to leave the house to shop for necessities, exercise, provide medical services or work in essential businesses.
5. Trump is weighing loosening the social distancing guidelines as the economy continues to tank with a projected unemployment rate expected to reach 20-30% and economic growth rates expected to decline 30%.
6. Netanyahu announced that travel was only permitted for food, medicine, work and other activities deemed essential as Israel’s cases soared to 1,442 with only one death-an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor.
