Every state under disaster declaration for first time in US history

Author: Madeline Holcombe, CNN
Published: Updated:
Credit: MGN

The coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed more than 20,000 lives nationwide, has put every state under a federal disaster declaration — a first in the history of the United States.

President Donald Trump approved a disaster declaration Saturday for Wyoming, the final state to get one, along with the US Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico.

There are more than 530,000 coronavirus cases in the US and 20,608 fatalities, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. And states are feeling the impact of the pandemic in many ways.

Illinois announced its second-highest day of deaths Saturday with 1,293 new reported cases and 81 additional deaths.

In South Florida, families lined up for up to five hours before food distribution even began outside Magic City Casino, according to CNN affiliate WPLG.

And in New Jersey, the state with the second-highest number of coronavirus cases, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is asking all businesses — even those deemed essential — to shut down for “Be Still Mondays.”

The goal is to further limit the spread of the virus as the death toll rises in the state.

“We can get everything else back. What we can’t get back is people’s lives,” Baraka said.

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