Coronavirus Updates: U.S. Cases Surge Past 300,000; Trump Warns 'Toughest' Weeks are Ahead

Immune To COVID? New Study Suggests Why

More than 300,000 people in the U.S. have been sickened by the coronavirus and President Donald Trump is bracing the nation for even more deaths.

Trump warned Americans Saturday that the “toughest” weeks are ahead. “There will be a lot of death, unfortunately,” Trump said at his daily briefing on the pandemic. "There will be death.”

As of Saturday evening, the U.S. had recorded 308,533 cases of COVID-19, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. At least 8,376 people have died.

The numbers have continued to surge in recent days. Cases reached 200,000 on Wednesday, only a week after hitting 100,000.

Worldwide, there have been more than 1.19 million reported cases confirmed and 64,549 deaths.

Latest Developments

United States

-Facing a severe blood shortage, the American Red Cross has eased some restrictions on who is eligible to donate the blood. The organization has also joined the effort to collect plasma from those who have already recovered from COVID-19, so that their antibodies can be used to treat others who are seriously ill.

-The Coral Princess cruise ship docked at Port Miami Saturday, two days after another ship, the Zaandaam, began disembarking sick passengers at Port Everglades in nearby Fort Lauderdale. Princess Cruises said in a statement early Saturday morning that the Coral Princess had docked at Port Miami and it would likely take several days to remove all 1,020 passengers. There are also 890 crew members aboard. The company said seven passengers and five guests had tested positive for COVID-19. Two people on board have reportedly died.

-At least 155 crew members aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt have now tested positive for coronavirus, the Washington Post reported. The aircraft carrier's captain was relieved from duty earlier in the week after sounding the alarm about the outbreak on board the ship.

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-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a news conference Saturday that more than 113,000 people in his state have tested positive for COVID-19, a jump of more than 10,000 from the previous day. Nearly 16,000 people are hospital, with about 25% of them in intensive care, Cuomo said. More than 3,500 people have died.

-New Jersey has the second highest number of cases in the U.S., with 29,895 confirmed as of Saturday morning. The other state's with the most reported cases of COVID-19 are Michigan, California, Massachusetts, Louisiana and Florida, in that order.

-More than 10,000 people have now tested positive for COVID-19 in Louisiana, where officials have said an outbreak in New Orleans may have started with the state's Mardi Gras celebrations in February. The state has reported 370 deaths. But Gov. John Bel Edwards said on Friday the rate of increase in infections had slowed from the previous day, The Advocate reported.

-Community spread of COVID-19 had been reported in 46 states and one U.S. territory as of Wednesday, the CDC said. Of those, 25 states reported widespread outbreaks of the disease.

-Forty-one U.S. states have now issued some form of statewide stay at home order, according to The New York Times. Four others have issued partial orders. Some 4 billion people around the globe - nearly half of Earth's population - are under stay at home orders.

-Wyoming remains the only state to report no deaths from COVID-19.

Worldwide

-China held a national day of mourning Saturday as doubts continue to persist over the true number of cases and deaths there, especially in Wuhan, the central China city where the outbreak started. Officials are trying to quell online discussions about fatalities and are encouraging families to bury victims quickly and quietly, according to the Times.

-Spain and Italy remain the current virus hotspots outside of the U.S. Spain has more than 126,000 confirmed cases and at least 11,947 deaths. More than 124,630 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Italy, where at least 15,362 people have died.

For the latest coronavirus information in your county and a full list of important resources to help you make the smartest decisions regarding the disease, check out our dedicated COVID-19 page.

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