COVID-19 updates USA

The new virus named COVID-19 is spreading enormously quickly all over the world. The most affected countries according to the COVID-19 live updates show the following picture of the most affected countries:

As you may see, COVID-19 spread in the United States is one of the most fast among the most affected countries. If only around a week ago due to the information from the mass media Americans were thinking that their country is safe from the disease, in a few days the situation has drastically changed. Besides, we need to keep in mind that not all people who have the symptoms are diagnosed. On top of that, many carriers of the virus can have it without any symptoms and still spread the disease. It’s safe to say that the statistical data are way lower than the actual ones.

What’s interesting among the countries the number of deaths differs significantly while the number of affected people is approximately the same:

It may be explained by the average age of the country’s population as people older than 65 years are in the higher risk group, and culture of social interactions with elders. For instance, in Italy it is common for elderly relatives to live at the same houses with their younger family members who could bring them virus from the outside. And if families do not live together, they still have frequent family gatherings with their elders who in other countries, for instance, in the USA, commonly live at retirement homes and get visited by their kids and grandkids only once a few weeks or months. Nevertheless, young people all over the world still need to act responsibly as they can easily contract the disease and spread it to older people without even developing the symptoms themselves.

Besides, we should keep in mind that according to the latest data even young and healthy individuals can die from COVID-19:

Fatality rate by age

Keep in mind that even age group from 20 to 40 years require hospitalization in around 15% of cases, ICU in 2%, and die in 0.2%.

COVID-19 map USA

Based on the official COVID-19 statistics on the spread in the USA, the World Health Organization says the country can become the new epicenter of the pandemic, yet thousands of people, mostly students on their spring break, do not follow the rules for social distancing and self-isolation which can significantly aggravate the situation in the next 2-3 weeks.

Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of New York, the city most affected by COVID-19 in the USA to date, said that the anticipated peak of the pandemic is going to happen within the next 2-3 weeks. He also points out that it is expected that the city will certainly need more intensive care unit beds and respirators than are available today.

COVID-19 USA confirmed cases, new cases for 24.03.2020

COVID-19 symptoms – when you need to go to the hospital

The potential symptoms are:

- Fever;

- Dry cough;

- Shortness of breath.

These are the most widespread symptoms of COVID-19 reported by the hospitalized patients. But there are also multiple cases of non-hospitalized positive patients who also report other symptoms such as nasal congestion or runny nose, pain in the muscles, nausea, and others typical for seasonal flu. Besides, there are also cases of no visible or significant symptoms when a person thinks they are healthy when they still have COVID-19 and can infect other people, which is why quarantine, social distancing, and good hygiene are crucial to stop the disease spread.

Keep in mind that you don’t need necessarily go to the hospital if you have these symptoms. Yes, it is important to get tested to know whether you can infect other people or not, especially if you work in strategic fields and cannot practice quarantine but first you need to inform your doctor by phone and not going to the hospital to avoid further spread of the virus.

Who need to seek medical health right away:

- People in the risk group even with the mild symptoms, i.e. aged over 60, with chronic diseases, especially heart diseases, diabetes, lung diseases, cancer, etc.

- Younger people with the symptoms without chronic diseases who have severe fever, general weakness, and cough for more than three days.

- People with the symptoms who develop shortness of breath whether it is the second day of the disease or 7 or more days after they first developed fever. Shortness of breath is the indicator of lungs lowered capacity so it is important to take measures timely.