It took just under two weeks for the number of worldwide coronavirus cases to increase by a million.
On Tuesday, the total number of infections surpassed 2 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. The milestone comes less than two weeks after the world saw its 1 millionth reported case on April 2. Globally, the number of deaths has increased even more drastically, with the death toll topping 128,000.
The United States has had more than 600,000 infections and at least 2,600 deaths. Every single state in the U.S. has now reported coronavirus deaths after a fatality occurred in Wyoming, the remaining holdout, on Monday.
Despite the pandemic, officials in various states and in the federal government began expressing cautious optimism this week that the country is beginning to turn a corner on new infections and deaths.
[Click here for complete coronavirus coverage]
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn said Sunday that “we are very close to the peak” of the pandemic. That same day, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the country might begin to reopen the economy slowly in May.
On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, some countries in Europe are crafting plans and preparing to reopen in the coming weeks and months.
Domestically, a rift related to how states reopen emerged between President Trump and some governors after Trump claimed he has “total” authority over reopening states. Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo hit back on that contention and said that such a move would be unconstitutional.
