Thanks to expanded testing, the U.S. now has over 560,000 confirmed cases, driving the global total near two million.
Overall, daily new cases appear to have peaked and are now plateauing before an expected steady decline. New York, which accounts for under half of total U.S. cases, is starting to see a plateau of daily new cases, and on 11 April, the state recorded the lowest daily number of net hospitalizations since the crisis began just under a month ago. These are positive signs for the state and for New York City, which has been at the epicenter in the U.S. Growing hotspots in the U.S. include Massachusetts, Illinois, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.
The U.S. hit its peak daily deaths on 10 April with 2,035 deaths attributed to COVID-19. Daily deaths have since dropped to 1,830 and 1,528 in the last two days respectively, a positive trend that indicates hospital systems are not overwhelmed, despite the high active case count.
In Europe, Italy, Spain, and Germany are all experiencing sustained downward trends in daily new cases and consequently daily new deaths. As a result, Spain is slowly re-opening parts of the economy, as factories and construction sites in half of the country's 17 regions were re-opened on 13 April. Other regions are expected to re-open on 14 April.
French president Emmanuel Macron is expected to extend the country's lockdown past the current 15 April deadline. France is behind Italy and Spain and the toll of the virus appears to have reached a plateau but is not on a steady downward trend.
The UK and Turkey are on continued upward trends with cases and deaths.
Latest Global Updates:
- The United Kingdom surpassed China's claimed total infections with over 84,000 cases and at least 10,600 deaths. The country continues to see increases in daily new cases and deaths and is approaching it's peak resource use and daily deaths in the next several days.
- Russia reported its largest daily increase on 12 April with 2,186 new cases.
- South Korean officials ordered all individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 or were suspected of having it to wear an electronic tracking bracelet to ensure compliance with official orders; those who violate quarantine orders can face up to a year in prison or fines of up to $8,200.
- Israel announced resumption of public transportation following relaxation of lockdown measures. International flights will remain suspended.
What we know:
- Over 1.85 million confirmed cases worldwide
- 116,000 deaths
- 435,000 recovered
CURRENT STATUS
The focus in the U.S. remains on shelter-in-place measures to limit the spread of COVID-19. As new cases drop, the economy may be slowly re-opened on a state-by-state or city-by-city basis but with new guidelines such as always wearing a mask while out in public and using hand-sanitizer after interactions with people or objects.
As COVID-19 spreads, more and more countries will institute domestic and international travel restrictions. These policies are changing constantly as the pandemic evolves. The International Air Transport Association maintains a list of airline travel restrictions.
TRAVEL ADVICE
The U.S. State Dept. has issued Level 4: DO NOT TRAVEL guidance for the entire world amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. CDC has issued a Domestic Travel Advisory for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. It urges residents of these states to refrain from non-essential domestic travel for 14 days.
In addition, Global Guardian recommends the following:
- Return to the U.S. if currently abroad while commercial means are still available. Otherwise, prepare to remain abroad for an indefinite period.
- Avoid all international travel.
- Practice advanced careful hygiene measures, including frequent hand washing and sanitizing.
- Practice "social distancing" while in public spaces.
OUTLOOK
The outlook is optimistic as several European countries start to see a flattening of the curve in new cases 14-20 days after instituting aggressive lockdown measures. Spain, Italy, and Germany are now starting to see sustained positive effects on case growth after more than 20 days of nationwide lockdown and quarantine. New cases are declining significantly and daily deaths are flattening out.
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