U.S. Coronavirus cases top 240,000
More than 5,800 deaths in America - NBC's Jay Gray reports.
DALLAS, Tex. (KYMA, KECY/NBC News) - Doctors and first responders continue to say the most valuable weapon in the war against coronavirus continues to be social isolation.
On Thursday, Texas joined a growing number of states with stay at home orders. While elsewhere, the battle against the illness rages on.
The pace is unrelenting...
"The last two weeks have felt like they've lasted two years." says Michigan nurse Maureen Bigginger-Grisius.
Two weeks of hell on the front lines, doctors and nurses overwhelmed - not only with the fight for life, but also with the mental struggle of being there when family members cannot - as patients lose that battle.
"Even that we're geared up in full ppe , you have two eyes looking at you and its heartbreaking as nurse to know you are that persons everything and sometimes in those last moments the weight of trying to fill the shoes of the people who can't be there is really heavy." says Bigginger-Grisius.
Help is streaming into the hardest hit areas right now. Crews driving in from across country to spell exhausted first responders in New York.
"They are here to help out EMT and paramedics in our hour of need." said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.
And needs are growing. About 90% of the country is now under "stay at home orders" - something experts say is vital to stopping the outbreak.
"We don't have a vaccine that's deployable. This is the only thing we have, and we can get through it if everybody really leans forward and pushes on this." says Dr.Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
Meanwhile, pushing towards the Florida coast, two Holland America cruise ships. After being stranded at sea, more than 2,000 passengers and crew members are finding their way home.
Most are foreign nationals. Sanitized buses took them to charter flights. Nine, who've tested positive, were transferred to hospitals. At least 45 passengers who are showing symptoms will remain isolated on board.
