Worldwide, 5 million people die per month of all causes. In roughly the past two months, COVID-19 has killed a reported 102,000 worldwide, adding only one percent to the global death rate.
The Weather Company – Some 102,000 people worldwide had died from the disease caused by the novel coronavirus as of Friday evening, including more than 18,000 the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
At least 1.6 million cases have been confirmed worldwide, with more than 491,000 in the U.S.
Thursday marked the 100th day since the World Health Organization was alerted to the virus in the wake of an outbreak in Wuhan, China.
“As many as 646,000 people are dying globally from seasonal influenza each year, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday, a rise from earlier assessments of the disease’s death toll.” – Reuters, December 13, 2017
Latest Developments
United States:
- Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Friday that the state’s health department will record license plates of all residents who attend in-person church services over the Easter weekend, and they will be contacted and ordered to quarantine for 14 days.
- The number of people being treated for COVID-19 in intensive care units at New York hospitals dropped for the first time since mid-March and the rate of hospitalizations is slowing, the Associated Press reported. “There is a light at the end of the tunnel,” Dr. Jolion McGreevy, medical director of Mount Sinai Hospital’s emergency department, said. “It’s getting better, but it’s not like it’s going to just drop off overnight. I think it’s going to continue to slowly decline over the next weeks and months.”
- Los Angeles County extended its stay at home order until May 15. The order was originally set to expire on April 19. Los Angeles has recorded more than 7,900 cases of COVID-19 and 225 deaths.
- Seventy people have tested positive at a San Francisco homeless shelter, including 68 clients and two staff members, KGO-TV reported.
- Federal authorities are investigating a Massachusetts veterans home where at least 28 residents have died from COVID-19, according to the AP. The investigation focuses on whether residents at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke were denied adequate medical care. The director of the home has been placed on administrative leave. Read more.
