US: Positive Covid-19 Cases Surpass 550,000; Texas Extends Disaster Declaration

COVID-19 related fatalities in the country stand at over 21,900, with 6,898 deaths in New York City alone so far.

Bodies are moved to a refrigeration truck serving as a temporary morgue at Wyckoff Hospital in the Borough of Brooklyn on April 6, 2020 in New York. - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday extended a shutdown in the epicenter of America's deadly coronavirus pandemic until near the end of the month. Cuomo said the COVID-19 death rate in New York was "effectively flat" for the past two days but announced that schools and non-essential businesses must stay shut until April 29. (Photo by Bryan R. Smith / AFP)

Washington DC : The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States has surged past 5,54,000, as per the data from the Johns Hopkins University. COVID-19 related fatalities in the country stand at over 21,900, with 6,898 deaths in New York City alone so far. The death toll in the US has already surpassed that of Spain and Italy - two European countries severely affected by the virus. As of 5:00 AM on Monday (IST), the number of coronavirus cases in the US stand at 5,54,226 while the death toll has reached 21,994. The virus which originated in China's Wuhan last year has so far infected more than 1.5 million worldwide. According to a Sputnik report, on Saturday, US President Donald Trump approved Wyoming's declaration of emergency, thereby rendering all US states and territories under the state of emergency for the first time in the country's history. Texas extends disaster declaration to mitigate pandemic US Texas Governor Greg Abbott extended the disaster declaration for 30 days to respond to COVID-19. "By extending my Disaster Declaration, we are ensuring the state of Texas continues to have adequate resources and capabilities to support our communities and protect public health," Abbott said on Sunday, reported Xinhua news agency. "I urge all Texans to continue practicing social distancing and abide by the guidelines laid out by the CDC and my Executive Orders to slow the spread of COVID-19," he said. The declaration, originally issued March 13, provided the state a number of resources to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in Texas. According to Texas Health and Human Services, there were 13,484 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 271 reported deaths in the state as of Sunday.