US Orders 100,000 Body Bags as Coronavirus Positive Cases Soar to 245,193

New Delhi, April 3, 2020: 

The US has fielded requests for as many as 100,000 military-style body bags for potential civilian use as the coronavirus positive cases continue to soar across the world. Currently there are a total of 1,016,258 cases of coronavirus worldwide.

According to Worldometers, the current status of the US in terms of coronavirus is that it has a total of 245,193 positive cases, including 316 fresh cases and 18 deaths reported on Friday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has requested 100,000 body bags, which are also known as Human Remains Pouches, through an inter-agency group soon after US health officials warned that the nation's death toll following the pandemic could reach as high as 200,000.

Pentagon officials confirmed the reports of FEMA's requests for the body bags. It needs mention here that earlier this week, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director, Dr Anthony Fauci, who is leading the White House response to the coronavirus crisis, estimated that 100,000 to 240,000 people could die, even with the strict practice of "social distancing" guidelines outlined by the Federal Government.

ALSO READ: Tetseo Sisters from Nagaland Call for an End to Racism against NE Indians

However, Fauci added that "mitigation is actually working" and that the authorities are "doing everything" to get it the death toll significantly under control.

According to reports, while the Pentagon works to buy more bags, it will draw some initially from a stockpile of 50,000 it maintains.

Reviewing the projections of Dr Fauci, US President Donald Trump warned the Americans of a difficult period ahead. On Tuesday he had expressed, “This is going to be a painful two weeks,” adding, “Our strength will be tested, our endurance will be tried.”

QuickTake on Coronavirus

With 245,193 positive cases, including 316 fresh cases and 18 deaths, US has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the world. 6,095 people have died so far of the virus. 10,403 have recovered from the illness.

New York, New Jersey, California and Michigan have numbers that surpassed 10,000-mark. New York has the highest cases of coronavirus - 93,053 (2,538 deaths). New Jersey has 25, 590 cases with 537 deaths, California numbers are - 11,175 cases, 246 deaths and 337 new cases. Michigan has 10,971 total cases of coronavirus and 417 people have died so far.

Meanwhile, hospitals and health systems across the US are bracing for what could be a "peak" number of coronavirus patients this month.

Coronavirus World

Across the world, the number of coronavirus cases has skyrocketed past the 1 million mark and cases now stand at 1,015,877. Although 212,993 have recovered from the disease, 53,218 have died from complications. The United States has reported 245,193 cases, by far the highest number recorded in any country, and 6,088 have died so far.

Italy still leads the list of country with the highest number of casualties. 13,915 Italians have perished so far due to the virus.

In India, 2,543 people have been afflicted by the coronavirus so far. The death toll has risen to 72.

Six more persons in West Bengal’s Kalimpong district, all related to the first case (a 44-year-old lady who passed away on March 30 last) have tested positive for the new coronavirus or COVID-19, Inside Northeast sources have informed. Four relatives of the deceased had tested positive on April 1. Thus, 10 family members of the deceased woman have tested positive for the contagion.

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.