US tops two million coronavirus cases
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The number of confirmed coronavirus infections in the United States topped two million on Wednesday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
The pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 112,900 people in the United States, which leads the world in the number of confirmed infections with 20,004,64, according to the Baltimore-based school's latest count.
The mark was passed with all 50 states in various stages of reopening and with numerous states experiencing surges in cases and severe strain on their hospitals.
It's been just five months since the coronavirus caused its first known US fatality, in California, broke out in Washington state and quickly spread around the country.
The virus has killed almost 113,000 people in the US, Johns Hopkins said, and there were more than 7.3 million cases worldwide and 416,000 deaths.
Seventeen states have reported an increase in average daily new COVID-19 cases compared with two weeks ago, including Florida, California and Texas.
The ongoing pandemic has wreaked havoc on the US economy. Tens of millions of people have filed for unemployment since states started shutting down to try to limit the virus' spread. Several major companies, including J.C. Penney, J. Crew, Gold's Gym and Hertz have filed for bankruptcy.
Some experts predict the coronavirus could impact the nation until 2029.
On Monday, White House Coronavirus Task Force officials said the police brutality protests around the country may spur a spike in virus cases. Many demonstrators haven't been heeding public health guidelines for containing the virus, such as wearing masks and social distancing.
Meanwhile, Mexico’s death toll surpassed 15,000 on Wednesday. The country also recorded its highest number of infections in a day at 4,833, bringing the total to 129,184.
Health official Jose Luis Alomia said that 708 fatalities were also recorded in the past 24 hours. Mexico’s death toll now stands at 15,357.
China has reported 11 confirmed and four new asymptomatic coronavirus cases. All of the new cases involved travelers from overseas, according to the National Health Commission. Three confirmed cases and five asymptomatic cases were reported the day prior. The official infection total is now 83,057, with a death toll of 4,634.
China does not count asymptomatic patients — or those who have coronavirus but do not show any symptoms — as having confirmed cases.