US sees 1,514 Covid-19 deaths in 24 hrs; expert says country could reopen in May

The outbreak has now claimed the lives of a minimum of 22,020 people within the US, the foremost of any country.

The US also leads the world far and away within the number of confirmed infections, with 555,313 by the Baltimore-based university’s count.

The country has been recording nearly 2,000 deaths every day from the coronavirus, disproportionately older people with weakened immune systems and ethnic minorities with less access to health care and teleworking.

Anthony Fauci, the US government’s top infectious diseases expert, said on Sunday that the country could also be able to start gradually reopening next month, as signs grew that the coronavirus pandemic was peaking.

Fauci, the veteran pandemic expert, said in an interview to CNN that parts of the country could begin easing restrictions in May. But Fauci was cautious as well.

“I think it could probably start a minimum of in some ways maybe next month,” Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN.

“We hope by the end of the month we can look around and say, OK, is there any element here that we will safely and cautiously start pulling back on? If so, do it. If not, then just still hunker down,” Fauci said.

US President Donald Trump had earlier wanted the world’s largest economy to be “raring to go” by Easter Sunday. Still, most of the country remained at a standstill and churches took celebrations online to halt the spread of the virus that has killed over 22,000 people within the US.

Trump has cast the decision on when to ease the lockdown as the biggest of his presidency as he faces competing pressures from public health experts and businesses together with some conservative allies who want a swift return to normality.

Fauci said that regions would be ready at different times instead of the US turning back on sort of a “light switch.”