Fear of what comes next as US tally soars

WASHINGTON－As the United States reached milestones in the novel coronavirus outbreak－all 50 states now have cases and deaths top 100 nationwide－health officials say that the country's health care system may not be prepared for what comes next.

The past two days have seen dramatic jumps in the number of cases in the US. At least 6,496 people have been infected with the virus in the US and 114 have died as of Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally.

Those figures seemed to be driving a sense of urgency as schools close their doors, businesses shift to teleworking and hospitals prepare to meet a wave of expected patients.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for a unified national response to the novel coronavirus outbreak, after coming under fire for downplaying the pandemic and allowing states to go their own way.

Trump's call came as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the White House was presenting a massive economic stimulus plan to go to Congress and was looking at sending direct payments to US citizens, as well as aid to embattled airlines.

Trump is also considering a plan to turn back all people who cross the border illegally from Mexico, two Washington officials said on Tuesday, using powers they say the president has during the novel coronavirus outbreak to mount what would be one of the most aggressive attempts to curtail immigration.

US Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Heather Swift said the president was focused on protecting US citizens from the coronavirus and that "all options are on the table".

Defense Secretary Mark Esper also said on Tuesday that the Pentagon will make available to the Department of Health and Human Services up to 5 million N95 face masks, which can be used to help protect health workers and vulnerable people against the virus. The first 1 million would be available immediately, he said.

New guidelines

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday issued new guidelines to be followed for up to two weeks, advising against gatherings of more than 10 people and visits to public spaces like restaurants or gyms.

That led to criticism of public officials who had just days earlier called for people to go about their daily lives－including Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and Californian congressman Devin Nunes, both Republicans.

Democratic presidential primaries nevertheless went ahead on Tuesday in three states－Florida, Illinois and Arizona.

A top novel coronavirus task force official, Deborah Birx, said: "We believe that every mayor and every governor should implement these guidelines that came from the White House and the president of the United States."

The US epidemic had been centered on northwest Washington state, but new figures give New York state the highest number of cases with almost 1,400.

Trump earlier praised Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gavin Newsom of California, saying of the former: "We're both doing a really good job and we're coordinating."

Cuomo warned reporters on Tuesday the epidemic may not peak for 45 days and said experts had told him the state would need to devote 55,000-110,000 hospital beds to the crisis, including tens of thousands in intensive-care units.

Asked his views on when the national epidemic was set to peak, Anthony Fauci, the head of infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health, told reporters at the White House that 45 days "is not unreasonable".

He said the task force would evaluate if even more draconian measures were required in the next two weeks.

And he called for young people to play their part by remaining at home even if they themselves were not particularly vulnerable to the illness.

According to a study published on Tuesday in The New England Journal of Medicine, a leading US medical journal, scientists found that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARSCoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, was detectable in aerosols for up to three hours, up to four hours on copper, up to 24 hours on cardboard and up to two to three days on plastic and stainless steel.

The study, conducted by the US National Institutes of Health, provides key information about the stability of the virus, and suggests that people may acquire the virus through the air and after touching contaminated objects.

Ai Heping in New York and agencies contributed to this story.