The Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Dashboard on Monday morning, April 6, at 6:55 a.m. reports that the United States has more than 347,000 reported cases of COVID-19. The death toll in the U.S. stands at 10,335. The Dashboard gets data from sources around the world, and updates frequently. So far, 184 countries or regions of the world have COVID-19.
There are, so far, 1,309,439 reported cases worldwide. The death toll stands at 72,638. But news reports do have a glimmer of good news: both Spain (135,032 cases) and Italy (132,547 cases) may be starting to plateau.
New York State continues to have the most COVID-19 cases in the country, at more than 64,000, with 2,472 deaths as of Sunday, April 5, at 5 p.m., according to the New York State Department of Health.
Governor Andrew Cuomo says over the past two days, there has been a slight flattening of the upward curve. But both he and Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health say there will continue to be more deaths in New York and elsewhere, so this is not the time to stop any isolation or social distancing practices. Dr. Jerome Adams, the Surgeon General of the United States, says the upcoming few weeks may see the most deaths so far in the U.S.
One conundrum is that more people may have had or have COVID-19 than are confirmed–they may not have been tested, or their symptoms may have been slight or nonexistent. The FDA has approved one antibody test, which will be able to tell if people had COVID-19. If antibody tests become readily available, that will allow people to know if they have had it, and therefore might be able to return to work and normal activities. But it’s still not known what kind of immunity those who’ve had COVID-19 will have. Department of Health Assistant Secretary Admiral Brett P. Giroir said over the weekend that he believes that antibody tests will be readily available by May.
