National COVID-19 News

April 28, 2020

Current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures show more than 981,000 confirmed and presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. in 55 states and U.S. territories, with 55,258 deaths. New York state leads the nation with more than 282,000 cases, followed by New Jersey which has more than 109,000 cases and Massachusetts which has more than 54,000 cases.

AHA sent a letter to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) urging immediate steps be taken to target the distribution of the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund to hospitals and health systems. AHA estimates that hospitals and health systems will receive just $22 billion (or 44%) of the $50 billion in funds made available to date. AHA asked HHS to “better target funding” for hospitals and health systems, which serve as the nation’s primary source of COVID-19 testing and treatment.

The American Heart Association will host a webinar April 30 at noon on COVID-19: Perspectives from the Critical Access & Rural Hospital Settings. The program is complimentary. Register here.

The latest WHO situation report shows more than 2.87 million COVID-19 cases globally, with over 198,000 deaths. The European Region leads the world in cases and deaths, with more than 1.35 million confirmed cases with over 124,000 deaths. The Region of the Americas (includes the U.S.) follows, reporting more than 1.1 million cases and more than 58,000 deaths.