“We hoped that the situation would resolve itself”: what difficulties did the USA face due to the coronavirus epidemic

According to the American media, the largest cities in the United States are preparing for a sharp increase in patients with the new type of coronavirus COVID-19.

Most infections are expected, in particular, in Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, Milwaukee and Los Angeles. The authorities of these urban agglomerations and regions are counting on social distancing to help contain the growing epidemic, but take measures to combat the pandemic.

Thus, in Chicago, the US Army Engineering Corps prepares 2.5 thousand places for patients at the McCormick Place Exhibition Center, the largest in the country, converted for medical purposes. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said the city expects an “inevitable influx” of sick people.

In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti and Governor Gavin Newsome met the USNS Mercy medical service ship. This floating hospital can accommodate 1 thousand patients.

American experts in the field of medicine note that a surge in incidence in large cities will be necessary.

“If you do not close the borders, then only a few sick people will be enough to spread the infection to another state. Chicago and Detroit are large nodes, the virus could have been brought into them at any time, and the intensity is increasing only now, ”the Joseph Post quoted Joseph Eisenberg, head of the Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan.

Alison Bateman House, a senior lecturer at Langoun Medical Center, New York University, agrees with this assessment.

“I am deeply concerned about where we see bursts of incidence. According to recent reports, we expect surges in Boston, which has a relatively good healthcare system, in Detroit and New Orleans. Over the past 10 years, these cities have suffered so much, and now, among other things, they face a serious epidemic. I am very worried, ”Yahoo News quoted her as saying.

Ashish Jah, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, believes all major cities will be affected by the epidemic.

“There is no doubt about that. First in line is New York. Will distribution in other cities be just as fierce? Different cities can be different ... I am very worried about Louisiana, especially New Orleans. And about Atlanta, ”Yahoo News quoted him as saying.

Medical history

Recall that in the United States the first case of coronavirus infection was recorded on January 21 in Washington state.

According to the website of Johns Hopkins University, the total number of infected with COVID-19 in the United States exceeded 130 thousand people, more than 2.4 thousand died, more than 2.6 thousand recovered.

Coronavirus was found in all US states, but the most difficult situation has developed on the east coast. The state of New York became the epicenter of the pandemic.

The most difficult epidemiological situation has developed in the state of New York, where at that moment more than 55 thousand patients were recorded. Hospitals in the city are experiencing an acute shortage of protective equipment and ventilators.

A similar situation is observed in the territory of New Jersey, where today the number of people infected with coronavirus has reached 13 thousand Americans, deaths - more than 160. In the state of Washington, the number of cases exceeds 4.3 thousand, of which 191 patients died.

Least of all coronavirus spread in a number of northern states. In the states of North Dakota and South Dakota, 98 and 90 cases, respectively, in Wyoming - 86, in Montana - 154.

At the same time, doctors are sure that the peak of the epidemic has not yet been passed. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that it will be reached in about three weeks. Also, the University of Washington's Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation predicts that the total number of COVID-19 victims can reach 38–162 thousand people.

New york collapse

The main blow was taken by health workers in New York. So, in the Western media and social networks there was a video recorded by one of the doctors of the hospital in New York Queens. Dr. Colin Smith showed in what difficult conditions the hospital where she works is located. At the same time, the doctor warned of the growing epidemic and the shortage of critical medical equipment.

The video shows how the doctor goes through the clogged corridors of the Elmharst hospital, in which 13 people died in one day as a result of coronavirus infection. She talks about the arrival of a refrigerator truck to the hospital to store the bodies of the dead, and also hopes for the soon arrival of the necessary mechanical ventilation devices.

In addition, Diana Torres, a nurse at Mount Sinai West Hospital in New York, shared a social media post where her colleagues pose in plastic bags instead of uniforms. She commented on the situation in the institution in an interview with RT.

“The problem is that we all are in contact with patients and many of us are already sick. I already lost a colleague. The hospital says that we have enough supplies, but we received them in very limited quantities. We began to complain that the blue aprons given to us cover only the front of the body, after which we began to be given yellow robes that were worn on top of the first. To prevent cross-infection, we wore them in turn, but they soon ended. One of the shift nurses bought plastic bags at the store, and the workers put them on over their yellow robes ... I am completely isolated ... The only thing I’m afraid of is getting sick and dying, ”says Torres.

The epidemic has become so widespread in the United States due to untimely restrictive measures, said Konstantin Blokhin, leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in an interview with RT.

“The United States and many European countries have decided that it is too early to introduce harsh prohibitions, as they adversely affect their economies. In addition, when the first outbreaks of coronavirus occurred in China, it seemed to other countries that this would not affect them, so there was no need to stop production and ruin the economy because of the phantom threat. We hoped that the situation would resolve itself, ”the expert emphasized.

From his point of view, in order to prevent the development of the situation “according to the American scenario” in Russia, it is necessary for every citizen to show consciousness and self-discipline.

“China has shown the effectiveness of deterrence by authoritarian methods, and today the Chinese model is the most effective compared to the European one. We must pull ourselves together, comply with the recommendations of the government. It’s better to sit at home and not put yourself at risk than to seek adventure, ”Blokhin concluded.