America’s coronavirus death toll continues to climb, with over 3,000 fatalities having occurred in the country as of Tuesday afternoon, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker.
Yet as bleak as those numbers are, former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy believes that the situation may get significantly worse before it gets better.
“Going to see multiple peaks”
Murthy served as surgeon general during the Obama administration, and during a recent Fox News appearance, he explained why the COVID-19 pandemic may play out differently in the U.S. than it has elsewhere across the globe.
“Unlike other countries which may have had a single peak overall in infection, we are likely in the United States going to see multiple peaks. New York is going first now,” Murphy said.
New York City has been the American locality hardest hit by COVID-19, with roughly 1,500 dead in the Big Apple thus far. A Navy hospital ship arrived on Monday to help alleviate the pressure on overcrowded area hospitals.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo was present to greet the vessel’s arrival, declaring, “There she is. If there is ever a time that we need to work together it is today.”
Other hotpsots emerge
However, Murthy stressed that several other regional hot spots are cropping up across the country, and they could spiral out of control unless further aggressive actions are taken.
“I think we’re very concerned about Detroit, and other states — like Kansas and Florida — are also deeply worrisome if you look at the rise in cases there,” Murthy declared.
“The need for beds, materials, protective equipment as well as health care workers is only going to grow in the coming weeks,” the former official predicted.
Second guessing Mardi Gras
The former surgeon general also expressed concern about the emerging situation in New Orleans. Leaders in the Crescent City drew criticism from Louisiana’s governor after they opted to go ahead with annual Mardi Gras celebrations despite the growing pandemic.
“I happen to believe that people coming from all over the country and over the world that a fair amount of virus was seeded if that’s the word,” Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards said at a press conference last week, according to local Fox affiliate WVUE.
Gov. Edwards went on to add that Louisiana’s largest city could see its hospital beds completely filled by the first week of April, a potentially dire scenario indeed.
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