British virus crisis deepens, while New York sees positives

British virus crisis deepens, while New York sees positives

SeattlePI.com

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NEW YORK (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson remained in intensive care Tuesday for treatment of his coronavirus illness, while authorities in New York hoped that a leveling off of deaths and new hospitalizations would hold and signal that the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak had turned a corner.

Johnson was moved to the intensive care unit of a London hospital after his symptoms dramatically worsened Monday, just a day after he was admitted for what were said to be routine tests. The 55-year-old, the world’s first known head of government to fall ill with the virus, was conscious and did not immediately need to be put on a ventilator, his office said.

Britain's foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has been designated to take over should Johnson become incapacitated. A grave-looking Raab said Monday that Johnson was “in safe hands” at the hospital, which is treating many virus patients.

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the first, faint signs the outbreak there may be nearing its peak, while making clear that it’s no time to relax social distancing restrictions.

“The numbers look like it may be turning,” Cuomo said, though he warned that the crisis was far from over.

As deaths in the U.S. neared 11,000, with more than 365,000 confirmed infections, President Donald Trump said mitigation efforts were showing signs of slowing the spread of the virus.

The nation’s top infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, was cautiously optimistic, saying that in New York, “what we have been doing has been working.”

Stocks jumped on Wall Street and around the world on hopes that the pandemic could be slowing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained more than 1,600 points, or nearly 8%, on Monday and the rally continued in Asia on Tuesday.

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