On Monday at his daily press briefing, President Trump tried to silence those who have criticized his handling of the pandemic by telling reporters that "everything we did was right."
"We were way ahead of schedule," he said, rebuking a New York Times report that detailed apparent delays. "Remember this, because the story was a fake. Everything we did I was criticized because I was too early. If I waited longer, if I went way earlier, three months earlier, I would've been criticized..."
"I saved tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of lives," he said.
The news comes after last week's hopeful revelation that, at the time of writing, more than 330,000 people around the world have recovered from coronavirus.
It also comes as one of the hardest-hit nations, Italy, has relaxed some of its lockdown regulations this week, allowing the reopening of bookstores and shops selling children's clothes, per NBC News.
This ease on lockdown measures, which is also taking place in Spain, follows Italy reporting its lowest coronavirus daily death rate in nearly a month on Sunday. However, Italy's lockdown is not set to officially end until May 3.
At the time of writing, the total number of confirmed cases stands at 800,049. There have been 37,878 confirmed deaths, and 170,325 confirmed recoveries, according to the John Hopkins University reporting.
There are currently 164,610 cases in the US, the most of any country. Italy has suffered the most deaths from the coronavirus, the number of people who have passed away in the country stands at 11,591 at the time of writing.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that Spain suffered a record death toll of 849 in 24 hours, the highest number the country has seen in 24 hours since the outbreak began. Spain is currently the worst-hit European country after Italy.
Spain's Health emergency chief Fernando Simon has said that the country is still experiencing a shortage of intensive care beds, adding: "We continue to have a major problem with ICU saturation."
In the United States, President Trump has advised that the country will be in "a very good shape" as it pertains to the number of ventilators available by the time of the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.
The president also said, "We have now 10 companies at least making the ventilators, and we say go ahead because, honestly, other countries - they'll never be able to do it."
Per statistics from the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, the number of global deaths related to COVID-19 coronavirus has now surpassed 25,000.
At the time of writing, 25,035 people have died, while the total number of confirmed cases stands at 553,244.
127,567 are currently reported to have recovered from the virus.
The news comes as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Twitter that he had tested positive for coronavirus, having displayed mild symptoms over the last 24 hours. The Prime Minister said he would continue to lead the United Kingdom's fight against the virus, writing:
"Over the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus. I am now self-isolating, but I will continue to lead the government’s response via video-conference as we fight this virus. Together we will beat this. #StayHomeSaveLives"
Meanwhile, UK health secretary Matt Hancock revealed that he too had tested positive for the virus, writing:
"Following medical advice, I was advised to test for #Coronavirus. I‘ve tested positive. Thankfully my symptoms are mild and I’m working from home & self-isolating. Vital we follow the advice to protect our NHS & save lives #StayHomeSaveLives"
In the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci has said that President Donald Trump was giving an "aspirational projection to give people some hope" when he spoke of his desire to get Americans back to work by April 12.
"He's listening to us when we say we really got to reevaluate it, in real time, and any decision we make has to be based on the data," Fauci told CNN's Global Town Hall, "Coronavirus: Facts and Fears."
Per CNN, Trump said earlier this week that he wanted the nation "opened up and just raring to go by Easter", as the US economy spiralled downwards.
The BBC has reported that US stock markets have been falling in early trading today, after experiencing a three-day surge, while markets in Europe have also experienced "drops of 2-4% ".
As of this writing, the national total of confirmed coronavirus cases in Italy has reached 17,660 infections and seen 1,266 deaths, the BBC reports.
Last Monday, the entire country was put into national lockdown - a measure that still remains in place.
Now, an Italian doctor treating those infected with COVID-19 has taken to Facebook to speak out about his experiences working to fight the virus - describing it as a "tsunami that has swept us all".
Related - Man reveals what it is like to have the coronavirus:
Per the New York Post, Dr. Daniele Macchini of the Humanitas Gavazzeni hospital (located in the northern city of Bergamo), shared a lengthy post on Facebook warning others about the true dangers of negligence and laxity in the ongoing battle against coronavirus.
In the lengthy post - translated by Dr. Silvia Stringhini, an epidemiologist and researcher at the Geneva University’s Institute of Global Health - Dr. Macchini writes:
"After much thought about whether and what to write about what is happening to us, I felt that silence was not responsible.
"I will, therefore, try to convey to people far from our reality what we are living in Bergamo in these days of Covid-19 pandemic. I understand the need not to create panic, but when the message of the dangerousness of what is happening does not reach people I shudder."
Bergamo - a city of about 122,000 some 30 miles northeast of Milan - is currently one of the nation's worth-hit areas, with 1,245 confirmed cases of the SARS-like virus (as of this writing).
"I myself watched with some amazement the reorganization of the entire hospital in the past week, when our current enemy was still in the shadows: the wards slowly ’emptied,’ elective activities were interrupted.
"All this rapid transformation brought an atmosphere of silence and surreal emptiness to the corridors of the hospital that we did not yet understand, waiting for a war that was yet to begin and that many (including me) were not so sure would ever come with such ferocity.
"I still remember my night call a week ago when I was waiting for the results of a swab. When I think about it, my anxiety over one possible case seems almost ridiculous and unjustified, now that I’ve seen what’s happening. Well, the situation now is dramatic to say the least.
"The war has literally exploded and battles are uninterrupted day and night. But now that need for beds has arrived in all its drama. One after the other the departments that had been emptied fill up at an impressive pace.
"The boards with the names of the patients, of different colors depending on the operating unit, are now all red and instead of surgery you see the diagnosis, which is always the damned same: bilateral interstitial pneumonia."
In the viral post - which has since been shared more than 35,000 times on the social media platform - the doctor also urged people not to compare COVID-19 to a bad case of the flu:
"Now, explain to me which flu virus causes such a rapid drama. […] And while there are still people who boast of not being afraid by ignoring directions, protesting because their normal routine is ‘temporarily’ put in crisis, the epidemiological disaster is taking place.
"And there are no more surgeons, urologists, orthopedists, we are only doctors who suddenly become part of a single team to face this tsunami that has overwhelmed us.
"Cases are multiplying, we arrive at a rate of 15-20 admissions per day all for the same reason. The results of the swabs now come one after the other: positive, positive, positive. Suddenly the E.R. is collapsing."
In the Facebook post, Macchini would go on to describe each ventilator as "gold", and then once again stressed the emotional and physical strain those working in the medical industry are currently facing:
"I saw the tiredness on faces that didn’t know what it was despite the already exhausting workloads they had. I saw a solidarity of all of us who never failed to go to our internist colleagues to ask, ‘What can I do for you now?’
"Doctors who move beds and transfer patients, who administer therapies instead of nurses. Nurses with tears in their eyes because we can’t save everyone, and the vital parameters of several patients at the same time reveal an already marked destiny.
"There are no more shifts, no more hours. Social life is suspended for us. We no longer see our families for fear of infecting them. Some of us have already become infected despite the protocols.
Macchini finished the startling post by revealing that some of his colleagues have now become infected themselves and then infected their relatives who "are already struggling between life and death". He typed:
“So be patient, you can’t go to the theater, museums or the gym. Try to have pity on the myriad of old people you could exterminate.
"I finish by saying that I really don’t understand this war on panic. The only reason I see is mask shortages, but there’s no mask on sale anymore. We don’t have a lot of studies, but is panic really worse than neglect and carelessness during an epidemic of this sort?"
Per the John Hopkins University records, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the loss of 15,328 lives, as of Monday, March 23. In addition, the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus has now reached 350,536 people.
Today, the US became the third worst-hit nation in the world, with 35,345 confirmed cases, and a death toll of 473.
The US now sits behind Italy, which stands at 59,138 confirmed cases and a death toll of 5,476, and China, which has recorded a total of 81,496 confirmed cases, resulting in the loss of 3,274 lives. (All figures accurate as of this writing.)
In a glimmer of hope, JHU reports that over 100,000 people of that global tally have recovered from COVID-19.
[[imagecaption|| Credit: John Hopkins University]]
On Friday, WHO officials were once again forced to warn people about dismissing the coronavirus as just a bad outbreak of the flu, stressing how the global pandemic has overwhelmed health systems around the world in just a matter of weeks.
Speaking at a press briefing from the organization’s Geneva headquarters, executive director of the WHO’s emergencies program Mike Ryan said:
"Take one look at what’s happening in some health systems around the world. Look at the intensive care units completely overwhelmed. Doctors and nurses utterly exhausted. This is not normal. This isn’t just a bad flu season."
However, despite the growing numbers, many members of the public in the US and UK are still refusing to practice safe social distancing and self-isolation.
Now, the US Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams, has spoken out about the seriousness of social distancing and self-isolation.
Earlier today, Adams appeared on the TODAY show to provide a warning to the US public that the COVID-19 crisis will get worse over the next seven days.
During his on Monday morning, Adams said: "I want America to understand this week, it's going to get bad."
He said: "Right now, there are not enough people out there who are taking this seriously.
"Everyone needs to act as if they have the virus right now. So, test or no test. We need you to understand you could be spreading it to someone else. Or you could be getting it from someone else, stay at home."
The WHO has also reported a rise in criminals disguising themselves as WHO officials in order to steal money or sensitive information from members of the public.
As per the most recent WHO situation report, they are "[urging] individuals to stay alert and to verify the authenticity of the request. Information on protecting yourselves against scams as well as reporting the scam to WHO can be found HERE."
We are urging all of our readers to adhere to the advice from their respective governments and medical bodies, and practice social distancing and self-isolation where required. Together, we will beat this...
Another 832 people have died in Spain as the country experienced its biggest surge in deaths due to coronavirus in just 24 hours, Metro reports.
The publication also states that the statistic overtakes yesterday's record of 769 fatalities in a single day.
Per the tracking map from the John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, there have been 5,138 confirmed deaths from the disease and 65,719 cases overall in the Mediterranean country.
Familiarize yourself with the symptoms of this potentially deadly disease:
The respective death tolls in both Spain and Italy have recently overtaken that of China, where the deadly outbreak originated.
In Italy, which has the highest coronavirus death toll in the world, there are currently 86,498 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 9,134 deaths from the disease. In China, there are currently 81,996 confirmed cases, with 3,177 having died from the infection.
Earlier this week, it emerged that the United States had become the nation with the most cases of any country in the world. In the US, there are currently 104,837 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.
As a result of the worsening outbreak, Spain's nationwide lockdown was extended on Thursday for an extra two weeks, until 11 April. Citizens are prohibited from leaving their homes unless they are purchasing essential items or traveling to work.
[[imagecaption|| Credit: PA]]
Spain's healthcare system has been hit hard by the crisis, particularly in Madrid and northeast Catalonia where a large number of medics are being infected by the virus.
A second morgue has been set up in an ice rink located in a shopping center in the capital of Madrid in order to cope with the country's alarming death rate. It will begin operating on Monday.
Furthermore, soccer team Real Madrid has allowed its Santiago Bernabeu stadium to be used to store medical supplies.
It is believed that Spain's elderly population is in part the reason that so many people are dying from COVID-19 in comparison with other countries.
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