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COVID-19 tests reach 1 mln in U.S. as total cases top 160,000
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The United States has tested 1 million people in its stepped-up effort to tackle the novel coronavirus, with a capacity to test 100,000 samples daily.
“Today we reached a historic milestone in our war against the coronavirus. Over 1 million Americans have been tested,” President Donald Trump announced Monday at a White House briefing.
Alex Azar, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, said the United States is now testing 100,000 samples a day in their effort to combat the outbreak.
The country has reported more than 160,000 COVID-19 cases, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE).
As of 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday (0130 GMT on Tuesday), there were 163,429 confirmed cases in the United States, with 3,008 deaths, an interactive map maintained by the CSSE showed.
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Monday issued an order directing residents to stay at home unless there is an essential reason for going out, such as getting food and medical care, performing or accessing government services or engaging in essential business or travel.
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It is a crime to disobey the order, and people who violate it could face up to 5,000 U.S. dollars in fines, imprisonment for no more than 90 days, or both, said Bowser.
“Staying at home is the best way to flatten the curve and protect yourself, your family, and our entire community from COVID-19,” said the mayor.
As of Monday, total confirmed COVID-19 cases in Washington reached 401, with nine deaths, according to the CSSE.
The District had earlier ordered all nonessential businesses to shutter, and the latest order came as similar measures were taken on the same day by the states of Maryland and Virginia.
New York City, where non-essential businesses are also closed till April 15 in accordance with a statewide mandate, has also tightened rules on social distancing, which experts say is essential to slowing the spread of COVID-19.