<img ” src=”http://abcnewsradioonline.com/storage/news-images-may-2020/N_COVID-19UpdateImage_031820.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1588686234314″ alt=”” style=”display:none”>(NEW YORK) — Here’s the latest information on the COVID-19 coronavirus as of 9:40 a.m. ET.
Latest reported numbers globally per Johns Hopkins University
Global diagnosed cases: 3,600,106
Global deaths: 251,910. The United States has the most deaths of any single country, with 68,934.
Number of countries/regions: at least 187
Total patients recovered globally: 1,173,147
Latest reported numbers in the United States per Johns Hopkins University
There are at least 1,180,634 diagnosed cases in 50 states + the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. This is more than in any other country.
U.S. deaths: at least 68,934. New York City has the greatest number of reported deaths in the U.S., with 24,999.
U.S. total patients recovered: 187,180
U.S. total people tested: 7,285,178
The greatest number of reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is in New York, with 318,953 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 19.5 million. That is the most reported cases than in any other single region in the world. New Jersey is next, with 128,269 reported cases out of a total population of 8.88 million.
Latest reported deaths per state
Visit https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html for the latest numbers.
School closures
For a state-by-state interactive map of current school closures, please visit the Education Week website, where numbers are updated once daily.
There are 98,277 public schools and 34,576 private schools in the U.S., according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Those schools educate almost 50.8 million public school students and 5.8 million private school students.
The latest headlines
Over 250,000 die worldwide due to COVID-19
Despite multiple countries and some U.S. states beginning to see a decline in hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19, health officials say the pandemic is far from over. On Monday, the total number of global deaths from the coronavirus topped a quarter million people, standing at 251,910 as of Monday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University. The pandemic, which was first reported in China last December, has sickened over 3.6 million people as of Monday morning. However, that number is expected to be much higher following speculation that some countries are downplaying their numbers, while others say inconsistencies in testing may have contributed to an under-reporting of cases. It has now been hypothesized that COVID-19 struck other regions of the world much earlier than thought.
Draft government docs project dramatic COVID-19 increase if restrictions lifted early
Even as President Trump continues to push for states to lift stay-at-home restrictions, The New York Times on Monday published a draft government document that warned the U.S. would see some 200,000 new cases and 3,000 deaths per day by June 1 if restrictions are lifted now. That’s nearly eight times the current rate of infection and double the number daily deaths. The projections were based on “preliminary analyses” that researchers at Johns Hopkins University had provided to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for its consideration. The White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention didn’t endorse the document’s conclusions, with the White House saying other federal agencies hadn’t properly vetted it. The CDC last week predicted that the U.S. COVID-19 death rate would rise but didn’t provide specific numbers. President Trump on Sunday again revised upward his estimate of how many Americans will die from the coronavirus, now saying it could be as many as 100,000 people. As of Monday morning, the confirmed number of U.S. COVID-19 deaths stands at 68,934, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Fauci: No evidence COVID-19 was created in Chinese laboratory, then escaped
The nation’s top infectious disease doc dismisses claims that the COVID-19 virus was created by scientists in a Chinese laboratory, and then somehow escaped. Dr. Anthony Fauci tells National Geographic, in part, “If you look at the evolution of the virus in bats, and what’s out there now is very, very strongly leaning toward this [virus] could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated — the way the mutations have naturally evolved.” He also dismisses conspiracy theorists who assert the virus escaped from a lab after it was discovered in the wild. “But that means it was in the wild to begin with,” says Fauci. “That’s why I don’t get what they’re talking about [and] why I don’t spend a lot of time going in on this circular argument.” Fauci also warns to be prepared for a resurgence of the virus in the winter.
Gun sales continue to soar amid lockdowns
With much of the nation on stay-at-home orders and firearms sales hitting an all-time high in March, gun sales also remained high for the month of April. Last month, the FBI processed 2.9 million firearms background checks, the fourth-busiest month on record. A check with the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is required for gun purchases from federally-licensed gun dealers, though the number of checks don’t represent the number of firearms sold, and likely represents an undercount because gun purchasers in most states can buy more than one firearm with a single NICS check. Many gun stores have had to adjust to social distancing requirements, doing sales by appointment only or limiting the number of patrons allowed in a store. Despite the restrictions, gun retailers have experienced brisk business during the pandemic. Five of the top ten busiest days for background checks on record occurred in March of this year, with 3.7 million NICS checks conducted that month.
Good news!
Atlanta man leaves hospital after a month in ICU with COVID-19
Jarrod Wynn still has a lot of recovery ahead of him, but the 33-year-old father of four passed a major milestone Friday when he was discharged from the hospital. WSB in Atlanta reports Wynn was hospitalized for a month and a half, and was intubated for much of his time in intensive care as his body fought the virus. Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center posted video of staff cheering as Jarrod was pushed to the exit in a wheelchair. Jarrod thanked the staff for saving his life, saying in part, “I really do appreciate it from the bottom of my heart and my family’s heart.”
Vaccine trials underway at University of Maryland
The University of Maryland on Monday injected the first volunteers with a trial COVID-19 vaccine which, if proven effective, could be available by the fall. The Baltimore Sun reports there are four vaccine variants being tested in all at UMD and three other sites in the U.S. and Germany. All of the vaccines are being developed by U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. and the German biotech company BioNTech, with testing funded by Pfizer. The first trial of the mRNA-type vaccine, as it’s called, scheduled to end in June, will see 360 people of different ages and risk groups injected with either the vaccine or a placebo. The trial ultimately will include 840 people, with results expected by the fall, reports the newspaper. The trial is only one of many involving other possible vaccines being conducted in the U.S and around the world.
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