77,000 New COVID-19 Cases in the US... Body Bags and Refrigerated Trucks Deployed Amid Overflow of Corpses

White House Faces Controversy Over Limiting CDC Officials' Attendance at Hearing on Resuming In-Person School Classes

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The United States recorded a new daily high of over 77,000 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The shortages of hospital beds, medical personnel, and morgue facilities witnessed in New York State last April are reemerging.

CNN reported on the 17th (local time), citing data from Johns Hopkins University, that on the 16th, a total of 77,255 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in the U.S., surpassing the previous record set two days earlier.

As new infections spread, hospitals and morgues in COVID-19 hotspots are experiencing worsening shortages of beds, supplies, and staff. Texas has decided to deploy military medical personnel, including doctors and nurses, to hospitals in the southern Rio Grande Valley with assistance from the U.S. military. Arizona announced plans to secure about 600 nurses from other states to expand hospital patient capacity under emergency plans. In Harlingen, a border city in Texas, discussions are underway to convert hotels into isolation treatment facilities for non-critical COVID-19 patients.

In Texas and Arizona, deaths are also rapidly increasing, prompting health authorities to secure large refrigerators, refrigerated trucks, and body bags to store the deceased.

Amid this situation, CNN reported that the White House is preventing officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from attending a House hearing scheduled next week to discuss the resumption of in-person schooling.

White House advisor Callieanne Conway responded to questions about whether President Trump and the First Lady would send their youngest son, William, to school in the fall semester by saying it was "their choice."

California Governor Gavin Newsom stated that most schools in the state would have to conduct remote classes in the fall semester.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the state would begin Phase 4 of economic reopening starting on the 20th. Accordingly, zoos and botanical gardens will be allowed to reopen with capacity limits, but indoor dining at restaurants, shopping malls, and museums will remain prohibited.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.