A report from the World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that the U.S. had its highest coronavirus death toll recording 2,909 patients.
Before May 1, the next highest death toll was reported on April 23 with 2,471 according to the WHO. As states try to put their businesses up and running, recent data suggests that 2,909 people died of the coronavirus in 24 hours.
In addition, the WHO report also recorded that there are over 3 million global cases of COVID-19. The majority of the cases come from both Europe and the Americas recording around 1.4 million and 1.3 million, respectively.
The record-high daily death toll could be compared to the 2,973 that happened during 9-11, according to a government commission report.
Is it safe to resume business as usual?
Last week the White House released a mass testing strategy that would be spearheaded by retailers to ensure a more efficient way of containing the coronavirus as soon as possible.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website data differ from the WHO since it goes through a different validation process.
According to the CDC, they cannot accurately define the exact number of coronavirus cases, as there are also asymptomatic patients as well as delays in reporting and limited testing make it difficult to accurately track the data.
A couple of U.S. states already started proposing measures for implementing social distancing as well as opening its businesses.
Governors took different approaches in developing plans to ease stay-at-home orders in their states, while some are taking various paths in removing social-distancing restrictions. The Northeast, Midwest, and West Coast states have formed alliances to lead in a regional recovery.
Other states have faced criticism for already allowing nonessential businesses to resume in-person operations while some governors have yet to release any sort of reopening plan.
This recent coronavirus death toll report may cause them to rethink about “opening shop” once again.
Remdesivir to the rescue
In recent developments from Gilead Sciences, they have received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to release Remdesivir to the public.
Under the EUA, the FDA will allow remdesivir to be administered from either a 5-day or 10-day dosage period. The 10-day dosage period would be preferred to intubated patients according to the FDA.
The FDA previously authorized the emergency use of other prescription drugs, such as chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, to combat the coronavirus. However, they immediately warned about these substances as reports came in that other patients were experiencing heart complications due to these drugs.
If remdesivir shows its potential this week despite its clinical trials still ongoing, we may see this as the silver lining in reducing the coronavirus cases.
Featured image courtesy of Tumisu/Pixabay