The death toll from the novel coronavirus in the United States has surpassed 50,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. With the latest figures, the total number of fatalities and infections in the US are far higher than in any other country. More than 3,000 deaths came in the last 24 hours, and there are now over 870,000 confirmed cases nationwide on Friday. More than 190,000 people have died from the coronavirus globally, and case totals have reached over 2.7 million, as of Friday afternoon. The grim news comes as parts of the US move to ease coronavirus preventive measure after weeks of lockdown with some hair salons, bowling alleys and other businesses opening in Georgia, Alaska and Oklahoma. Within the U.S., the pandemic has hit hardest in the state of New York. New York state officials said Thursday that preliminary results suggest a fifth of all New York City residents have been infected with the coronavirus. As the US leads in terms of total number of infections, but it still has a lower mortality rate than most European nations based on current case counts. In total, the US has more than three times as many confirmed cases of COVID-19 than any other country. European countries such as Italy, Spain, France, the United Kingdom and Germany and have also been hit hard by the pandemic with all of them reporting a higher number of deaths per capita than the US, according to the data from Johns Hopkins. Meanwhile, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo dared US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to pass a bill allowing states to seek bankruptcy, saying it would suggest to the stock market and other countries that the economy is flailing. "You want to send a signal to the markets that this nation is in real trouble? You want to send an international message the economy is in trouble? Do that," Cuomo, a Democrat, said Friday. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has suggested that states could pursue bankruptcy as an alternative to federal stimulus, as a way to ease fiscal crises caused by virus stay-at-home orders. — Agencies
