COVID-19 Roundup: Cases Worldwide Reach 11 Million with Deaths Exceeding 500,000
Dozens of people sit in their cars and wait to be tested at United Memorial Medical Center amid the global outbreak of the COVID-19 in Houston, Texas, US.
COVID-19 has reached a breakthrough today with deaths exceeding 500,000 worldwide, and the number of confirmed cases going beyond 11 million.
Based on the data which Johns Hopkins University gathered, there were 11,031,905 confirmed cases and 523,777 deaths globally as of this writing.
The figure is much higher, which includes the announcement this week of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that for each case reported, there were ten other estimated contagions in the United States.
Out of more than 11 million cases globally, 2.8 million are from the US. Other nations that follow suit, with the highest numbers of cases are Brazil, Russia, India, and the United Kingdom.
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Countries Managing to Bring the Pandemic Under Control
Some countries have exerted all efforts to bring the pandemic under control. South Korea, for instance, in late February until early March, reported roughly 750 new cases each day, averaged just a few dozen every day in end-May. However, according to reports, officials have noted only slight recovery.
Meanwhile, New Zealand had generally wiped out COVID-19 by the middle of May. It went 24 consecutive days without new cases recorded before it identified and reported only two confirmed infections this month.
Even Beijing in China went two months straight with no reported local COVID-19 case until the middle of last month.
Initially, hard-hit nations like Spain, Germany, and Italy are reportedly lifting restrictions as numbers of cases drop. At the same time, there is a rise in figures in countries like Mexico and India.
According to the World Health Organization, Latin America turned out to be the pandemic's new epicenter early last month.
The US in Its Highest Single-Day Increase in Number of Cases
The US, reports indicated, set a daily record for new COVID-19 cases this past week, having recorded over 45,000 yesterday, its highest single-day increase.
Relatively, states started to mandate stay-at-home directives and other measures in March to slow the spread of the virus, with figures dropping as a result.
However, by the middle of May, all 50 US states began reopening, some at an even speedier pace than the others.
States in the South and West have reported a surge in cases in recent weeks. Consequently, several other states like Texas, Nevada, and North Carolina have decided to roll back or pause their reopening plans.
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The US Started Reopening, but Are Closing Again
As mentioned, all 50 states had started reopening in some way after the pandemic forced the whole nation into lockdown beginning in March.
To date, a rising number of states are again pausing their plans of reopening in the midst increasing number of cases.
Some of the states like Texas for one, which closed bars again, following a spike in COVID-19 infections, have re-imposed restrictions they had earlier lifted.
There were already considerable differences in how states were planning to reopen, with some pushing far ahead of the others.
Scientists Continuously Develop COVID-19 Vaccines
With confirmed cases globally, that have exceeded 11 million and continuing to rise, scientists are continuously pushing forward with their initiatives to develop vaccines and other treatments to slow, and eventually, kill the pandemic, and reduce the damage it brings.
In early-May, two medications have obtained emergency use authorization approval from the Food and Drug Administration. These included the remdesivir antiviral drug and another one used to sedate patients on a ventilator.
Remdesivir is reportedly the most effective drug that treats sick people ahead in the progress of their illness.
Currently, redemsivir maker Gilead is developing an inhaled version of the drug which ill patients can use outside hospital confinement.
It will be administered through the use of a nebulizer, allowing for convenience during the early stage of an illness, while outside the hospital.
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