US: Los Angeles teen's death may be coronavirus-related

The United States has linked the death of a teenager to coronavirus, if proven, it would be the first known instance of a minor dying from the contagious disease. According to reports, the teenager was in good health condition and did not have any medical complexities before dying of acute respiratory problems, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said on March 24. The case is complicated and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is further evaluating the cause of death. The death of the youth from Lancaster comes despite the disease not typically proving severe for young people.

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The latest death of the teenager has caused a matter of concern among health experts who believed that only elderly people are vulnerable to the disease or people with low immunity and prior medical issues. Los Angeles County public health director Barbara Ferrer said that the virus doesn't discriminate by age, race or income level.

The United States has seen a sudden surge in coronavirus cases in the last 20 days which have forced authorities to take draconian steps like shutting down all borders and placing the country under partial lockdown. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States is only second to China and Italy, countries that have recorded far more cases and deaths. The United States has logged in 782 deaths so far, of which four came in the last 24 hours. There are currently 53,721 active cases in the country and 1,175 patients remain under critical condition.

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Coronavirus outbreak

The COVID-19 has claimed more than 18,900 lives across the world and has infected nearly 4,22,000 people globally since it first broke out in December 2019. China was the most affected country until last week, however, Italy surpassed it to record the most number of deaths anywhere in the world due to COVID-19. The virus is believed to have originated from a seafood market in China's Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally.  

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Spain, and Iran are the most affected countries after Italy and China, where, as of March 24 the combined death toll stands at 4,925. France has now also joined the list of countries that have recorded more than 1,000 deaths. Health experts believe that the hotspot could soon shift to the United States, where 782 people have died so far, out of the 52,881 confirmed cases that the country has recorded since January 2020.

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