The United States recorded nearly 1,500 deaths from COVID-19 between Thursday and Friday, last week according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, the worst 24-hour death toll globally since the pandemic began.
With 1,480 deaths counted between 8:30 pm (0030 GMT) Thursday and the same time Friday, according to the university’s continuously updated figures, the total number of people who have died since the start of the pandemic in the United States is now 7,406.
More than 1.13 million people worldwide — including more than 278,400 people in the United States – have been infected with the new coronavirus, and the number of deaths from the outbreak continues to rise. Officials are attempting to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. as hospitals brace for unprecedented patient surges.
The worldwide death toll for the coronavirus moved past 60,000 Saturday morning and has infected more than 1.13 million people according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 270,400 cases and more than 7,100 deaths.
President Donald Trump on Friday recommended that Americans cover their faces with masks when outdoors, a policy U-turn following growing scientific research suggesting their widespread use can stem the spread of the coronavirus.
Trump told a White House briefing that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was urging people to wear face coverings like scarves or homemade cloth masks, but to keep medical-grade masks available for health workers. “It’s going to be really a voluntary thing,” he underlined. “You don’t have to do it and I’m choosing not to do it, but some people may want to do it and that’s okay.”
The about-face was widely expected after senior health officials told reporters the scientific evidence had evolved. Speaking to Fox News on Friday, Anthony Fauci, head of infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health, cited “recent information that the virus can actually be spread even when people just speak as opposed to coughing and sneezing.”
Days earlier, the CDC’s Robert Redfield said up to a quarter of people who are infected may be asymptomatic. Taken together, the developments represent powerful arguments in favor of the widespread use of facial coverings.
The global death toll attributed to the novel coronavirus hit 59,884 early Saturday, and the latest surge in cases in France pushed the European nation’s total past that of China, where the illness was first detected in December.
In the four months since the virus was first identified in Wuhan, China, it has infected at least 1,131,713 people worldwide, according to a tally maintained by Johns Hopkins University. Five countries – the United States, Spain, Italy, Germany and France – have now confirmed total infection counts well above China’s 82,526 cases.
- The United States has reported 278,458 cases, resulting in 7,159 deaths.
- Spain has confirmed 124,736 cases, resulting in 11,744 deaths.
- Italy has reported 119,827 infections, resulting in 14,681 deaths.
- Germany has reported 91,159 cases, resulting in 1,275 deaths.
- France has confirmed 83,029 infections, resulting in 6,520 deaths.
- China has recorded 82,543 cases, resulting in 3,330 deaths.
- Iran has recorded 55,743 cases, resulting in 3,452 deaths.
- The United Kingdom has reported 38,697 cases, resulting in 3,611 deaths.
- Turkey has recorded 20,921 cases, resulting in 425 deaths.
- Switzerland has confirmed 19,702 cases, resulting in 60 deaths.