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Hi everyone, this is John Mandrola from the Heart.org Medscape Cardiology and this is this week in Cardiology for May 15th, 2020.

This week, COVID, Cardiology, and some heart rhythm news.

So first a brief COVID update.

When I recorded last week, there were 1.26 million cases in the US. Today there are 1.5 million. The rate of growth

of about 1.15 x is about the same. You expect more cases with the increase in testing, and now up to 10 million tests here in the

U.S.

The U.S. death rate last week, we had 75,000 cases this week, 86,000 and growth is about the same as well, 1.14.

This is looking like the new normal,

but a month straight now is slightly increasing numbers of cases and

deaths. It is not great news. I wish the virus never came. But I think it's the new

normal. That is until at least herd immunity or a vaccine come.

Hospitals here in the largest city in Kentucky and Louisville have seen no major influences of COVID-19. Hospitals in the general area here are

under capacity and nowhere near being overwhelmed. It's the same story in

Hershey, Pennsylvania, and that UCSF, which are two places that I follow.

...