Contagion Live News Network: Coronavirus Updates for March 23, 2020

Hello, I’m Grant Gallagher. Welcome to the Contagion Live News Network COVID-19 update for Monday, March 23, 2020. We will be delivering today’s update via audio, as the studio is currently closed for the protection of our team and our community.

Cases of COVID-19 around the world have surpassed 367,000. Recoveries, on the other hand, have just passed 100,000. There have been at least 16,000 deaths associated with the pandemic. The world health organization claimed that the pandemic is accelerating.

In a statement, the WHO Director Dr. Tedros said quote “It took 67 days from the 1st reported case to reach the first 100K cases, 11 days for the second 100K thousand & just 4 days for the third 100K”

In the United States alone, there have been more than 40,000 confirmed cases and about 500 deaths. The majority of cases are taking place in New York, which has over 20,000 cases. Following New York are New Jersey, Washington, and California.

Eleven states have instituted stay at home orders, with all non-essential workers ordered to stay home amid an impending economic recession. The eleven states issuing shelter in place lockdowns of some kind are California, Louisiana, New York, Illinois, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Delaware, Michigan, and Massachusetts.

Unemployment claims are expected to rise significantly. In the senate, political gridlock, inertia, and accusations of trying to cram in irrelevant partisan pet projects on both sides have left the senate failing to advance the coronavirus relief bill a second day in a row.

Over the weekend, we featured several articles on Contagion relevant to COVID-19. Stories include an interview from the frontlines with a Contagion contributor and infection preventionist, information on the challenges the virus will present to families in low income countries, and the transition from a containment strategy to a mitigation strategy in the United States.

For these and other stories relevant to COVID-19, visit ContagionLive.com. To track the spread of coronavirus in the United States and abroad, be sure to use the Contagion Outbreak Monitor.

For the Contagion Live News Network, I’m Grant Gallagher. Thanks for listening.