US reaches one million coronavirus cases including more than 58,000 deaths

28 April 2020, 20:21

By Nick Hardinges

@NHardinges

The US has reached more than one million coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, including more than 58,000 deaths.

At the time of writing, the total number of Covid-19 infections in the US now stands at 1,002,498, comfortably making it the epicentre of the outbreak.

The US tally is now almost as high as the next six worst-hit countries combined, with Spain, Italy, France, Germany, the UK and Turkey's cumulative total reaching just over 1,031,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

If all the country's states were broken down and included on the global death chart in their own right, the state of New York alone would be in fifth-place with more than 17,500 fatalities.

Three in ten of all US deaths have occurred in the country's fourth-most populous state.

At around 11pm on Tuesday evening, the total number of people to have died after contracting the disease in the US outnumbered the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam War, according to a Reuters tally.

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The total number of US victims is more than double the next worst-hit country Italy, whose tally stands at 27,359 at the time of writing.

It means America accounts for roughly one-third of all coronavirus cases and more than one-quarter of all deaths across the globe.

Following New York, other states with major outbreaks include New Jersey (with more than 110,000 cases), Massachusetts (with more than 56,000) and then Illinois, California and Pennsylvania (all with more than 40,000).

On Monday, the number of people to have tested positive for the virus across the globe topped three million.

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Meanwhile, in the UK there were a further 3,996 confirmed cases on Tuesday, with another 586 deaths recorded in hospitals.

It takes the UK's total number of hospital deaths to 21,678.

However, with the 4,343 care home deaths also announced today by the Care Quality Commission, it means the country's total figure is now above 26,000.

With care home figures set to be added to the UK's daily figures, it could mean the country is set to become the worst-hit country in Europe.