President Trump on Friday said the U.S. is “rounding the corner” on the coronavirus even as the nation recorded the second-most amount of cases since the start of the pandemic and hospital stays increased by 40% compared to a month ago.
“We’re approaching the light at the end of the tunnel, that’s the way I look at it,” Mr. Trump told supporters in The Villages, Florida, a large retirement community.
Mr. Trump said he and his family struggled with the virus but “beat it” with cutting-edge care earlier this month.
The president says the type of therapies he received, including an antibody “cocktail” from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, should be available to other patients for free.
It’s unclear whether the therapy, which is still in clinical trials, will be widely available soon, although remdesivir — an anti-viral that’s been proven to speed up recovery times — is a common treatment in hospitals.
The coronavirus was discovered in Wuhan, China, in December and spread quickly around the world, killing over 220,000 in the U.S. alone.
Thirty-nine states saw their coronavirus hospitalizations increase over the last week, compared to just 11 that saw a decline, according to The COVID-19 Tracking Project.
The U.S. recorded over 75,000 cases on Thursday, its second-highest daily total since the pandemic began.
Moving forward, Mr. Trump says people who want to stay in should do it but others should be able to live their lives instead of suffering from societal lockdowns.
But the winter, when respiratory diseases tend to thrive, is lurking as transmission spikes in the Midwest and the parts of the country.
A hospital in Idaho said it is at 99% capacity due to a coronavirus surge, forcing it to seek overflow room in Seattle or Portland, Oregon, if it comes to that.
Wisconsin just admitted the first patient to its field hospital as some parts of the state see their ICUs reach 90% of capacity.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is begging people to stay at home as much as possible to reduce spread and alleviate capacity.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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