Covid-19 cases now over 600,000 with over 104,000 cases in the USA

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The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States topped 104,000 on Saturday morning as infections quickly spread to new areas of the country.

As of Saturday morning, the US has at least 104,256 known cases of coronavirus and 1,704 people have died reported by health officials.

More than two months have passed since the first case of coronavirus was reported in the country and the US has become the epicenter of the global pandemic, overtaking China and Italy. The virus has hit New York and Washington especially hard but a new wave of coronavirus hot spots is already emerging.

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Chicago, Detroit and New Orleans are seeing a rapid increase of cases and officials there and in many other cities say they don't have enough medical resources.

Mayors from 213 cities across the country have said they do not have, and have no way of acquiring adequate equipment and supplies to protect first responders, according to a survey released Friday.

Long lines of cars were seen at the three testing sites in New Orleans on Friday. Within two hours, one of the sites had reached its 250-test daily capacity.

In Michigan, where the number of cases skyrocketed to nearly 3,000 from fewer than 350 a week ago, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said 468 police officers are under quarantine while the police chief and 39 police officers have tested positive for the virus.

Hospitals in Chicago and New Orleans are preparing for a spike in cases but the city's convention centers will soon become medical facilities to treat thousands of coronavirus patients, similar to New York City.

• A 15-minute coronavirus test approved: The US Food and Drug Administration authorized a test Friday using the same technology that powers some rapid flu tests.

• Record number of US deaths in a single day: At least 402 coronavirus-related fatalities were reported on Friday. Only four states -- Hawaii, Rhode Island, West Virginia and Wyoming -- have not reported any deaths.

• Defense Production Act implemented: President Donald Trump has invoked the Defense Production Act, to compel General Motors to produce more ventilators due to increased hospitalizations.

• $2 trillion stimulus package approved: Trump has signed the historic legislation on Friday. It's key elements include sending checks directly to individuals and families, a major expansion of unemployment benefits and financial assistance for small businesses.

• Navy hospital ships deployed: The USNS Mercy, a 1,000-bed Navy hospital ship, arrived Friday at the Port of Los Angeles to treat non-coronavirus patients from area hospitals. A second Navy hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, is expected to reach the New York area next week for the same purpose.

As parts of the US face a looming shortage of life-saving devices, President Trump said the administration would procure 100,000 ventilators in the next 100 days.

"We delivered thousands, as you know, to New York, and they didn't know they got them, and we also had thousands put in a warehouse and that was also for New York," Trump said during a coronavirus briefing Friday afternoon. "So we have to make sure that when we deliver things, they get distributed."

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo days ago said his state needed another 30,000 ventilators on top of the 7,000 it had. New York has been "shopping literally around the globe" for them, he said Friday.

President Trump on Friday morning tweeted that thousands of federally delivered ventilators had been found in "New York storage," and that the state "must distribute them now."

Cuomo said on Friday that this was "incorrect and grossly uninformed."

The state does have ventilators in a stockpile, and they all haven't been delivered because "the hospitals aren't at their apex" yet.

"Of course you don't need them today. You need them when you hit the (projected) apex, which is 30,000. We're not there yet," he said.

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