At least 6,200 people have died of the coronavirus in the U.S. and 244,228 people have tested positive as of Friday morning, according to the New York Times database. The U.S. now has the highest number of known COVID-19 cases in the world, a vastly different scenario from a month ago. At the beginning of March, just 70 U.S. cases had been reported — most of them connected to overseas travel. A month later, several of the largest U.S. cities have tens of thousands of cases. Hospitals are strained beyond capacity, human and health resources there are under immense pressure, and states are bracing for more cases.
Every state and four U.S. territories have people who tested positive for the virus. Cases are doubling every three days in some instances. Hospital ships are preparing for patients on both coasts, convention centers are being converted into makeshift hospitals and drivers with out-of-state license plates are being screened in some places.
Tracking the numbers can be confusing. By the time most people realize they’re sick, they may have been spreading the virus for days. The virus can breed paranoia nearly as much as disease — and that’s left many people looking for facts. There are plenty of sources providing raw figures that can be tracked over time on how many tests have been done, confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Some can be tracked against total population numbers.
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 70: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin goes solo to discuss the COVID-19 crisis. He talks about the failed leadership of Trump, Andrew Cuomo, CDC Director Robert Redfield, Surgeon General Jerome Adams, and New York Mayor de Blasio.
The New York Times is updating its database of COVID-19 cases every 10 minutes. Other sources for tracking COVID-19 cases in the U.S. include CNN, CovidTracking.com and BuzzFeed. The Verge put together a list of what it says are the best graphs for tracking the pandemic.
Here are the top five U.S. states for COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population, based on the New York Times database.
