US Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses 60,000

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 227,000 people worldwide. More than 3.1 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding the scope of their nations' outbreaks.

More than 60,000 people have died from coronavirus in the United States, as the virus continues to spread massively.

There are at least 1,036,652 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 60,475 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tally of cases.

On Wednesday, Johns Hopkins reported 24,070 new cases and 2,120 reported deaths.

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.

This is coming as the US economy suffered its most severe contraction in more than a decade in the first quarter of the year, as the country introduced lockdowns to slow the spread of coronavirus.

The world’s largest economy sank at an annual rate of 4.8%, according to official figures released on Wednesday.

It marked the first contraction since 2014, ending a record expansion, BBC reports.

But the figures just hint at the full crisis, since many of the restrictions were not put in place until March.

The pandemic “is causing tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world”, policymakers at America’s central bank said on Wednesday.”

April 30, 2020