December 17 local time, a rare blizzard in several years has lasted for two days in the northeast of the United States, killing four people.
According to a report released by the National Weather Service, the blizzard covered the northeast from North Carolina to New England, affecting up to 60 million residents. Among them, Washington, New York, New Jersey and Virginia were the hardest hit, with snowfall of up to more than 1 meter.
The strong wind and heavy snow have posed a great threat to the travel and even the safety of the local residents, and further aggravated the already difficult prevention and control of the novel coronavirus epidemic.
According to U.S. media reports, so far, the blizzard has killed at least four people in traffic accidents, about 80,000 families have lost power, and more than 600 flights have been cancelled. The slippery road caused by snow also caused a large number of traffic accidents.
New York City police received more than 200 traffic accidents in a day, including 27 cars crashing and seriously injuring 6 people. In addition, the situation of more than 4,000 homeless people in New York City has also caused great concern, and local governments have been called upon to take measures to help them.
The blizzard has also brought greater challenges to the already severe prevention and control of the novel coronavirus epidemic. Local hospitals have had to cancel non-essential surgeries to reserve beds for COVID-19 patients and traffic accident victims.
At least eight states, including Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania, have been forced to close a number of coronavirus testing centers. In addition, the COVID-19 vaccination work that just began this week has also been affected. Twelve hospitals in Pennsylvania, which were scheduled to vaccinate the first group of medical staff on the 17th local time, are now expected to be postponed due to bad weather.
