A difficult week begins in the fight against the coronavirus in the USA with a death toll close to 10,000

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Trump: CDC recommends covering your face

(CNN) - The United States is preparing to enter its most critical week to date in the fight against the coronavirus as the death toll nears 10,000. And the pandemic is not yet under control, said a senior US health official.

Despite measures to enforce social distancing and provide medical workers with the resources necessary to treat patients, "we are fighting to control (the pandemic)," said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy on Sunday. Infectious Diseases of the United States, on CBS '“Face the nation”.

• The United States has more than 200,000 cases of coronavirus. And carriers who don't feel sick are driving the spread

A row of ambulances wait outside the Elmhurst Hospital Center on April 4, 2020 in Queens, New York. (Credit: AP Photo / Mary Altaffer)

The number of cases across the country rose to at least 337,620 on Sunday, and the number of deaths rose to at least 9,643, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Authorities have warned that next week will be bleak, bringing more cases and deaths. The US Surgeon General said it will be the "hardest and saddest" week that many Americans have faced.

"I want Americans to understand that as difficult as it will be this week, there is a light at the end of the tunnel," Vice Admiral Jerome Adams said on "Fox News Sunday."

He described next week as a "moment like Pearl Harbor" and a "moment like 9/11."

New York reports drop in deaths

Still, the weekend brought some promising news in New York, the state that has reported the most cases and deaths.

Governor Andrew Cuomo reported Sunday, for the first time in days, a drop in the daily number of reported deaths in the state. He also said that admissions to intensive care units and daily intubations decreased and that the rate of patients discharged from hospital was "very high."

But Cuomo warned that it is still too early to determine whether the trend will continue, calling the events "some signs that are somewhat hopeful" that the state is peaking in the cases and will begin to stabilize.

Across the country, state leaders are still struggling to gather enough resources to fight the outbreak.

The coroner's and mortuary office in New Orleans has reached its limit, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said. She has asked the federal government for additional refrigerators. The city is also responding to the influx of patients and turned its convention center into an emergency hospital that will open Monday.

There were more than 13,000 reported cases of coronavirus and 477 deaths in Louisiana early Monday.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Sunday his state could run out of fans by the end of the week if cases continue to escalate.

There was also a heavy blow in Pennsylvania, which saw an increase of 1,494 cases on Sunday, the governor's office said, bringing the state total to more than 11,500. New Jersey reported another 3,482 cases on Sunday for a total of 37,505. At least 917 people died in the state, said the office of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.

Religious festivals threaten social distancing

This week is Easter in the Christian faith, which leads to Easter. And with the Jewish holiday of Passover starting on Wednesday night and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan later this month, those who urge to distance themselves socially warn of meetings that go against coronavirus guidelines.

At a press conference Sunday, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh urged worshipers to stay home these holidays.

"I know it's a very difficult thing, as a Catholic, I celebrate Easter Sunday next week, Palm Sunday today," Walsh said. “But that is not what we need at the moment. We need prayers right now, that's what we need. "

Many states have made exemptions from confinement orders for religious gatherings. And even in states that have not, some church leaders are still holding religious services.

The Rev. Tony Spell of Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was charged last week with violating the state ban and on Sunday he met again with 1,200 people.

“We don't get our rights to worship freely from the government. We get them from God, ”Spell said Sunday. "We prefer to obey God than man."

Other institutions have religious services virtually to maintain security and spiritual connection.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez thanked religious leaders who were providing services online on Sunday, calling it "the safest way to stay connected."

Distributing aid to critical points

Under the weight of the pandemic, people and officials are looking for innovative ways to help those most affected.

The Department of Veterans Affairs will open more than 1,500 civilian beds in hospitals in various states to ease the burden on hospitals under siege by coronavirus, according to Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Robert Wilkie.

VA aid will be distributed in New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, Michigan, and Massachusetts.

Dr. Sneha Topgi shared her insight into working in the SUNY Downstate hospital emergency room in Brooklyn.

Californians wear homemade masks to avoid buying the necessary medical masks in hospitals that are short on supplies. President Donald Trump on Friday announced the guideline that Americans should cover their faces.

Elsewhere, additional staff, hospital beds and medical equipment are being brought in in hopes of alleviating the increasing pressure on medical workers such as Dr. Sneha Topgi, who works in an emergency department in Brooklyn.

She describes an emergency room where it seems that almost all patients, no matter why they originally came, have coronaviruses and where medical professionals are maneuvering through the hallways where patients are on beds and stretchers.

Staff write their names on the personal protective equipment that covers their bodies so that patients have a feeling of connection with the people who treat them.

“I think we are still at the beginning and I am afraid. I am afraid of myself and of everyone in general, ”says Topgi.

- CNN's Dakin Andone, Sheena Jones, Laura Ly, Athena Jones and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report.

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