More than 10,000 People Have Now Died of Coronavirus in the United States
More than 10,000 people have died in the United States after testing positive for the new coronavirus, Johns Hopkins University reported Monday.
The nation's updated fatality count—which climbed to 10,335 on April 6—now represents roughly 14 percent of the global total.
Worldwide, at least 72,600 deaths have occurred as a result of COVID-19 infections and upward of 1.3 million cases of the virus have been confirmed since late December. The U.S. is now considered the pandemic's epicenter, surpassing 347,000 positive cases Monday afternoon. About 91 percent of those cases were active, meaning close to 318,000 people diagnosed with the illness still carried the infection.
The U.S. death toll has been eclipsed only by those of Italy and Spain, which have now respectively reported 16,523 and 13,169 fatalities related to COVID-19. Despite fewer deaths, as of Monday, the U.S. has confirmed more positive cases of the virus than both countries combined, and White House officials warned last week that the nation could ultimately see a surge in domestic fatalities as the outbreak approaches its peak.
Though an exact timeline for the expected U.S. trajectory of the virus has not been specified, President Donald Trump's foreboding remarks during Saturday's Coronavirus Task Force briefing suggested that this upcoming week would be particularly devastating.
"This will be probably the toughest week between this week and next week, and there will be a lot of death," he warned the public, noting that the White House's social distancing advisory—recently extended until at least April 30—would likely reduce the human cost significantly. "But there will be death," he said. Last Tuesday, Coronavirus Task Force members Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci projected that COVID-19 could take between 100,000 and 240,000 U.S. lives overall, even with containment measures in place.
New York has experienced the highest density of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., having reported more than 130,000 positive diagnoses and at least 4,700 deaths. New York City has shouldered the bulk of the virus' impact and has expanded its hospital bed capacity to accommodate an influx of patients. In terms of statewide figures, New Jersey, Michigan and California trailed New York's total with 37,505, 15,718 and 15,201 confirmed cases as of Monday afternoon.
