The rising death toll in the U.S. is poised to overtake that of China's.
March 31, 2020, 9:08 AM
4 min read
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has infected over three-quarters of a million people around the world.
The new respiratory virus, which causes an illness known officially as COVID-19, has rapidly spread to every continent except Antarctica since first emerging in China in December. There are now more than 787,000 diagnosed cases of COVID-19, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Over 166,000 of those patients have recovered from the disease while more than 37,000 have died.
With more than 164,000 diagnosed COVID-19 cases, the United States has by far the highest national tally in the world. The virus has spread to every U.S. state as well Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. At least 3,170 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States.
Today's biggest developments:
US Open tennis complex to transform into temporary hospital Worldwide diagnosed cases top three-quarters of a million US nears China's death toll from virusHere's how the news is developing today. All times Eastern. Please refresh this page for updates.
3:30 a.m.: US Open tennis complex to transform into temporary hospital
The site of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York City will be converted into a temporary medical facility as the coronavirus pandemic strains the city's resources, according to the U.S. Tennis Association, which owns the venue.
USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier told The Associated Press that an area of indoor courts at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in the New York City borough of Queens will be used for 350 temporary hospital beds starting Tuesday. Meanwhile, kitchens at Louis Armstrong Stadium -- the second-largest arena of the Grand Slam tennis tournament -- will be used for preparing 25,000 meal packages per day for patients, workers, volunteers and schoolchildren in New York City.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the plans.
The USTA, the national governing body for tennis, originally had said it was going to keep the center open for people to take lessons, practice or play tennis. But then the organization said it was closing the site to the public.
Beds are lined up in a tent as volunteers from the international Christian relief organization Samaritans Purse set up an emergency field hospital for patients suffering from the novel coronavirus in Central Park across Fifth Avenue from Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City on March 30, 2020.
Beds are lined up in a tent as volunteers from the international Christian relief organization Samaritans Purse set up an emergency field hospital for patients suffering from the novel coronavirus in Central Park across Fifth Avenue from Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City on March 30, 2020.Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images
With more than 38,000 diagnosed cases and nearly 1,000 deaths, New York City is the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak in the United States. State and city officials are trying to increase hospital capacity in order to handle the health crisis. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said up to 1 million more healthcare workers were needed.
"As governor of New York, I am asking health care professionals across the country: If you don't have a health care crisis in your community, please come help us in New York now," he said at a press conference Monday.
The rising death toll from the outbreak in the United States was poised Tuesday to overtake China's tally of more than 3,300 deaths.
