New Delhi, Apr 1: The global coronavirus death toll topped 43,000 as President Trump said the US could suffer nearly a quarter of a million deaths from the pandemic over time.
The announcement underscored the grim progress of the pandemic, which saw its biggest-ever jump in newly confirmed cases on Tuesday—more than 75,000, primarily in the US, Germany, Spain and France—according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The global tally of confirmed cases passed 877,000 Wednesday, and if the current pace continues, that number could top one million by the end of the week. More than 870,000 cases globally, with more than 43,000 deaths.
Japan saw its worst day yet, with 225 new coronavirus cases, mostly in Tokyo. At least 70 of the 5,000 crew aboard aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt tested positive for the coronavirus. The US has more confirmed cases than any other country, with more than 189,000 infections. The death toll, now greater than China’s reported total, passed 4,000. That is still far less than Italy, where fatalities rose to 12,428 Tuesday, or Spain, which has reported 9,053 deaths from the Covid-19 respiratory disease caused by the virus.
New York, the epicenter of the US outbreak, has over 76,000 confirmed cases and 1,700 deaths.
Doctors in West Virginia, a state home to an older population with higher rates of chronic illness than most others, are preparing for a surge of new infections. Health-care workers in states with large rural populations expect the strain on hospitals could be as severe as it has become in New York, even with fewer patients.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons said Tuesday that it would keep thousands of inmates at facilities nationwide locked in their cells with limited exceptions for the next 14 days as officials try to stem the spread of the coronavirus after one prisoner died and more prisoners and staff tested positive for the disease.