US passes a million coronavirus cases

Infections in the US account for a third of all cases reported around the world

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the US has climbed to more than 1 million, a grim milestone just four months after the nation’s outbreak was detected. The virus has spread to every state and so far claimed the lives of nearly 57,000 people.

Coronavirus cases in the US have eclipsed every other country and now represent nearly a third of all global infections. US deaths account for more than a quarter of the 213,000 global toll.

New York has emerged as the world epicentre for the virus, with more than 17,500 deaths reported in New York City alone, according to Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 300,000 cases have been confirmed in the state.

The dramatic surge in infection follows a nationwide scramble to repair a significant shortfall in testing capacity. Fewer than 100 cases were identified in the US at the beginning of March. But over the last several weeks, daily death tolls have reached more than 1,000.

More than 112,000 patients in the US have recovered from Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.

The latest figures follow White House pressure for states to begin reopening their economies and allow residents to return to work after the virus shuttered business nationwide and left millions of people unemployed.

Within the last five weeks, 26 million people have filed for unemployment benefits, as lawmakers and the White House have struggled to rapidly address unprecedented jobless claims without reliable federal and state safety nets.

The devastation wrought by the virus and a delayed national response has upended American life.

Roughly 5.6 million people in the US have been tested for the virus — only 1.6 per cent of the population, falling short of the criteria under Donald Trump’s guidelines for state and local governments to begin reopening.

But several states will begin experimenting with reopening businesses and other services this week, while some areas — including the entire San Francisco Bay Area and all of Louisiana — have extended their stay-at-home measures to combat community transmission of the virus.

The public health crisis has disproportionately targeted African American communities, largely stemming from histories of disinvestment and systemic health care disparities. In Louisiana, where roughly a third of the population is black, nearly 60 per cent of coronavirus deaths are among black residents. Less than 15 per cent of Michigan residents — and roughly 40 per cent of the state’s Covid-19 deaths — are African American.