The United States surpassed 50,000 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, as parts of the country began to reopen their economies.
Since the pandemic began, there have been almost 875,000 confirmed cases and at least 50,100 deaths in the country. Nearly 4.7 million COVID-19 tests have been completed, and about 81,000 people have recovered from the respiratory illness, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
The U.S. and other countries around the world are working to contain the virus, which has infected more than 2.7 million people and killed at least 193,000. The outbreak has been traced to Wuhan, a city located in the central Chinese province of Hubei, and is believed to have originated in late 2019.
Friday’s numbers show a dramatic increase in deaths over the past month. On April 2, coronavirus deaths in the entire world hit 50,000. The U.S. had about 5,600 deaths at that time.
COVID-19 has taken a heavy toll on economies all across the globe, including the U.S., where jobless claims have topped 26 million over the past several weeks. Some countries in Europe that were hit by the contagion earlier than the U.S. have already begun reopening.
The U.S. never mandated a nationwide stay-at-home order, but the vast majority of individual states did. Some of those states began the process of reopening on Friday, including Georgia, which will now permit gyms, barbershops, hair salons, and tattoo parlors to resume business. Other states are poised to begin reopening next week while still following federal guidance.
President Trump, who has pushed for states to reopen, said that he disagreed with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to reopen certain businesses this early.
“I told the governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, that I disagree strongly with his decision to open certain facilities, which are in violation of the phase one guidelines. … It’s just too soon,” Trump said Wednesday. “I told the governor very simply that I disagree with this decision, but he has to do what he thinks is right.”
He signed on Friday another economic relief bill meant to boost small businesses, testing, and hospitals.
Some experts have expressed concern about a “second wave” of COVID-19 cases that could come as people emerge from their homes and begin interacting and coming into closer proximity with one another.
“What’s really important is that people don’t turn these early signs of hope into releasing from the 30 days to stop the spread — it’s really critical,” Dr. Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, warned earlier this month.
“If people start going out again and socially interacting, we could see a very acute second wave very early,” she added.
Individual states are calling the shots on when and how to reopen. Trump said he had “total” authority in the matter before acknowledging amid criticism that the decisions will ultimately be made by governors.
