COVID-19 Update—US Overtakes China and Italy With Coronavirus Cases

Front-line workers in the COVID-19 crisis are bracing for their jobs to become more hectic as the United States became the nation with the greatest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, overtaking China and Italy, CNN reports. So far, the U.S. has more than 90,000 cases and 1,347 deaths.

Coronavirus hot spots are emerging in Chicago, Detroit, and New Orleans, with cases expected to spike this week. These areas are buckling down on social distancing policies, with Chicago authorities closing the city’s popular lakefront path and fining people who don’t follow rest-at-home orders.

As hospital environmental (EVS) services staff and other front-line workers buckle down, other employees are hunkering down at home. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) estimates 3.82 million Americans applied for unemployment the week ending March 21. That number is an increase of 3 million from the week before and set a record for the highest-level of seasonally adjusted claims since the DOL began tracking the numbers. The previous record was 695,000.

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