The number of coronavirus-related deaths in the United States surpassed 150,000 Wednesday, and several states broke single-day records for new deaths.
At least 150,034 people in the U.S. have died due to COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The U.S. reports nearly 1,000 deaths on average each day, but in the past 24 hours alone, the number of new deaths increased by nearly 2,000.
The milestone reached Wednesday comes just two months after the U.S. first counted more than 100,000 coronavirus-related deaths. Roughly 662,000 people globally have died due to the coronavirus, and the U.S. has recorded more deaths due to the coronavirus than any other nation.
North Carolina reported 45 new deaths. Florida set a new state record for a single day with 216 new deaths, according to the state health department.
California also broke a new record for the most coronavirus-related deaths in a single day, with 174 deaths reported on Tuesday, according to data maintained by the Los Angeles Times. Tuesday’s increase marks the third time this month that California has broken a single-day record for deaths and the second time in just a week.
Public health officials across Europe are grappling with renewed outbreaks of COVID-19, especially in Spain and Germany, as well as some Eastern European countries that were relatively spared by the pandemic until now, according to the Financial Times.
Lothar Wieler, the head of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute, the country’s public health agency, said, “We don’t know if it’s the start of a second wave — but of course, it could be.”
Spain is one of the worst-affected countries, having recorded nearly 14,000 new cases in a week. France has reported 6,325 cases in the past week, and the French government warned that the rise is due to the population becoming complacent about social distancing.
“What is striking is that in the past few weeks, the French have lost the notion of social distancing and caution,” said Jean-Francois Delfraissy, the French government’s top scientific adviser.
The European Union announced Wednesday that it will buy a limited supply of Gilead’s drug remdesivir, the only drug that the European Commission has granted authorization to be administered to COVID-19 patients in hospitals. The EU will pay 63 million euros, roughly $74 million, for enough doses to treat about 30,000 patients.
“In recent weeks, the commission has been working tirelessly with Gilead to reach an agreement to ensure that stocks of the first treatment authorized against COVID-19 are delivered to the EU,” said Stella Kyriakides, the EU’s commissioner for health and food safety.
A scaled-back Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca began in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, with Muslim worshippers confined to small groups, required to wear masks, and subject to temperature checks when they arrive, the Wall Street Journal reported. While the Hajj normally attracts millions of Muslims from all over the world, only about 10,000 will make it to the Kaaba, the most important shrine in the Islamic faith, before the end of Hajj on Aug. 2.
On Wednesday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, extended the statewide mask mandate to the end of August as part of her “safer at home” order. The extension, Ivey said, means that kids from second grade through college will be required to wear masks “where possible” so that schools can remain open through the next academic year.
“These decisions are not easy, and they are certainly not fun, and there’s no way in the world you’re going to make everybody happy 100% of the time … because no one enjoys wearing a mask,” Ivey said.
Texas Republican Louie Gohmert tested positive for the virus Wednesday morning at the White House ahead of a trip he planned to make with President Trump aboard Air Force One. The test was performed one day after Gohmert appeared at a House Judiciary Committee hearing featuring Attorney General William Barr. Barr said he’ll be tested for coronavirus now that Gohmert has been diagnosed.
The claims about the promise of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment made by doctors in a viral video retweeted by Trump do not hold up well.
“There is no reputable evidence that hydroxychloroquine has been effective,” said Dr. Otto Yang, an infectious disease expert at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Yang noted the Outcomes Related to COVID-19 treated with Hydroxychloroquine among In-patients with symptomatic Disease study, the ORCHID study, conducted by the National Institutes of Health using a randomized controlled trial, often considered the gold standard for research. That study found no added benefit for patients treated with hydroxychloroquine.
