U.S. infections break through 3.5 million, medical pressure in southern states surges

　(Fighting against New Coronary Pneumonia) U.S. infections break through 3.5 million

　　China News Agency, Washington, July 17th (Reporter Chen Mengtong) The number of new coronary infections in the United States exceeded 3.5 million on the 16th. The three most populous states (California, Texas, and Florida) have seen a surge in confirmed cases. The local hospitals are facing pressure from a shortage of medical resources and medical personnel.

On July 16, local time, customers wore masks to shop at a Walmart supermarket in Sugar Land, Houston, Texas, United States. China News Agency reporter Zeng Jingning

　　According to data from Johns Hopkins University, as of 23:00 on the 16th, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia in the United States reached 3.57 million, and 138,000 died. Among them, 358,000 people were diagnosed in California and began to approach New York (404,000 people were diagnosed). The total number of diagnoses in California and Florida (315,000) and Texas (305,000) is close to 1 million.

　　According to preliminary statistics from the US media, the number of newly diagnosed cases in the United States has exceeded 70,000 on the 16th. This is the 11th time that the record has been set in the past month. The continued surge in cases has also caused a sharp increase in pressure on the US medical system, and there is a shortage of medical personnel, equipment and testing reagents in many places.

　　In California, doctors had to send patients with new crowns up to 600 miles away for treatment. There is a shortage of medical staff in Florida, and Governor De Santis appealed to the federal government for urgent transfers of 1,500 nurses. In Texas, the mayors of cities such as Houston and Austin began to call on the state government to re-implement the home order because of fears of overwhelming hospitals.

　　Suarez, the mayor of Miami, Florida, said on the same day that with more and more patients in the emergency room, the admission rate of hospitals in the city has reached 95%. Wilson, an emergency physician at Tampa General Hospital in Florida, said, "We can withstand the increase in cases and we can respond to disasters, but we cannot respond to disasters every day. And this is the problem we face."

　　The "heat" of the "sunshine zone" in the southern United States has surpassed that of the northeastern states such as New York and New Jersey. The Washington Post pointed out that the current epidemic crisis in the southern United States is reminiscent of New York at the beginning of the outbreak. At that time, the hospital cancelled all non-emergency operations. Infected medical staff had to return to their posts to fight the epidemic within two weeks of isolation. The shortage of equipment forced the hospital to abandon the rescue of some patients with respiratory or cardiac arrest.

　　The New York Times said that 28 states and the city of Washington have issued mandatory mask orders, including Arkansas and Colorado, which have been laissez-faire about requiring people to wear masks.

　　Not only that, the mandatory mask order also caused the governor and mayor to sue. Georgia Governor Kemp filed a lawsuit on the 16th to stop the mayor of Atlanta, the capital of the state, from implementing a mandatory mask order. Kemp said that Bortons exceeded his authority and that the state’s policy is to recommend but not require masks in public. This policy should be higher than local policies.

　　At least 15 cities in Georgia have implemented mandatory mask orders. Boltons said he was not afraid of being prosecuted and would continue to implement this policy. She ordered on July 10 to return Atlanta's "restart" to the first stage, allowing restaurants to only provide takeaway and food delivery services.

　　US public health expert Fuchs talked on the 16th with Facebook CEO Zuckerberg. He admitted that after the epidemic reached its initial peak, the United States has never succeeded in controlling new cases below 20,000 cases per day. "What we need to do now is to really call a "pause"-it is not necessary to block again, but it must be controlled in a more controlled manner." (End)