The number of U.S. deaths due to COVID-19 reached almost 100,000 as of this morning, according to the Centers for Disease and Control.
In Kansas, 9,218 cases from 88 counties have been confirmed. As of Monday morning, the death toll was 188.
Worldwide, more than 346,000 deaths have been recorded due to the coronavirus. The United States’ 99,462 deaths leads the count, with the United Kingdom’s 37,000 death toll a distant second.
More than 5.5 million people have contracted the highly contagious disease.
“Right now, we’re not in the second wave. We’re right in the middle of the first wave globally,” said Dr. Mike Ryan, the World Health Organization’s executive director.
“We’re still very much in a phase where the disease is actually on the way up,” Ryan told reporters.
ing to South America, South Asia and other areas where infections are still on the rise.
India, with a population of over 1.3 billion, saw a record single-day jump in new cases for the seventh straight day. It reported 6,535 new infections Tuesday, raising its total to over 145,000, including close to 4,200 deaths.
The virus has taken hold in some of the country’s poorest, most densely populated areas, underscoring the challenges authorities face in trying to contain a virus for which no vaccine or cure has yet to be developed.
Most of India’s cases are concentrated in the western states of Maharashtra, home to the financial hub of Mumbai, and Gujarat. Infections have also climbed in the east as migrant workers stranded by lockdowns returned to their native villages from India’s largest cities.
Despite this, India allowed domestic flights to resume Monday following a two-month hiatus, but at a fraction of normal traffic levels.
In Brazil, where President Jair Bolsonaro has raged against state and local leaders enforcing stay-at-home measures, WHO warned that before reopening the economy, authorities must have enough testing in place to control the spread of the virus.
Brazil has 375,000 coronavirus infections — second only to the 1.6 million cases in the U.S. — and has counted over 23,000 deaths, but many fear Brazil’s true toll is much higher.
Ryan said Brazil’s “intense” transmission rates means it should keep some stay-at-home measures in place, regardless of the damage to the economy.
“You must continue to do everything you can,” he said.
But Sao Paulo Gov. João Doria has ruled out a full lockdown in Brazil’s largest state economy and plans to start loosening restrictions on June 1.
