America Now Has More Coronavirus Cases Than China

The number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. has overtaken that of China as America becomes the new global epicenter of the outbreak. The U.S. now reports nearly 86,000 infections and a death toll of almost 1,300, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.

The virus, which was first reported in Wuhan, a city in China's Hubei province, has seen more than 533,000 people infected across at least 176 countries and regions. More than 122,700 people have recovered and more than 24,000 have died across the globe.

China has reported more than 81,780 confirmed patients. Nearly 74,200 have recovered and almost 3,300 have died. The Chinese government claims the outbreak is mostly contained, with more cases now being reported outside China than within.

The new coronavirus outbreak has picked up pace in the U.S., with the majority of the cases reported in New York, Washington state, and California. Several others, including the southern states of Louisiana, Florida, and Georgia, as well as New Jersey, have seen a spike in cases, including deaths.

A large portion of the total cases in the U.S. is in New York, which currently has 37,258 positive cases. More than 21,300 of the infections are in New York City alone, according to the latest figures from the office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. The city also reported at least 365 deaths, as of Friday, Johns Hopkins University data shows.

Washington state, where the first-ever positive case in the U.S. was reported, has now seen at least 3,207 cases, including at least 147 deaths, according to the state's Department of Health. Washington's death toll climbed rapidly at an earlier stage of the outbreak but its infection rate appears to have become slower than in New York.

The graphic below, provided by Statista, shows the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases—the disease caused by the new strain of coronavirus—in a selection of states.

California has reported at least 3,006 positive cases and 65 deaths. The state saw a large number of infected patients in the wake of the outbreak in the U.S. Some of its first reported cases were passengers from the Diamond Princess, a Princess Cruises cruise ship that had been quarantined at sea in Japan last month for 14 days after a passenger from Hong Kong tested positive. The infected Americans from the ship were treated at a hospital near a military base in California.

Several positive cases were also reported from the Grand Princess, another vessel from Princess Cruises, which was held off the coast of San Francisco. Thousands of passengers were allowed to disembark the cruise ship in Oakland after they had been tested for the virus.

Several states in the south have reported thousands of cases, including in Florida. The state has at least 2,359 confirmed cases in its residents, with 29 fatalities, as of Thursday evening, the state's Department of Health confirmed.

At least 83 deaths were reported among Louisiana's nearly 2,305 confirmed cases as of Friday morning, according to the state's health department.

The virus has seen at least 56 people die in Georgia, which now has at least 1,643 confirmed cases, the state's department of health reported on Thursday evening.

Texas has at least 1,396 cases with 18 deaths as of Thursday morning, according to the state's health department.

The graphic below, provided by Statista, illustrates the spread of COVID-19 across the U.S.

Data on COVID-19 cases is from Johns Hopkins University unless otherwise stated.