COVID-19 all-in-one update

(NEW YORK) — Here’s the latest information on the COVID-19 coronavirus as of 8:40 a.m. ET.

Latest reported numbers globally per Johns Hopkins University
Global diagnosed cases: 7,257,519
Global deaths: 411,681. The United States has the most deaths of any single country, with 112,006.
Number of countries/regions: at least 188
Total patients recovered globally: 3,387,891

Latest reported numbers in the United States per Johns Hopkins University
There are at least 1,979,893 diagnosed cases in 50 states + the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. This is more than in any other country.
U.S. deaths: at least 112,006. New York State has the greatest number of reported deaths in the U.S., with 30,458.
U.S. total patients recovered: 524,855
U.S. total people tested: 21,048,183

The greatest number of reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is in New York, with 379,482 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 19.5 million. That is the most reported cases than in any other single region in the world. Moscow, Russia is next, with 199,785 reported cases out of a total population of at least 12.5 million.

Latest reported deaths per state
Visit https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html for the latest numbers.

School closures
For a state-by-state interactive map of current school closures, please visit the Education Week website, where numbers are updated once daily.

There are 98,277 public schools and 34,576 private schools in the U.S., according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Those schools educate almost 50.8 million public school students and 5.8 million private school students.

The latest headlines
COVID-19 hospitalizations rising in eight states
Eight U.S. states are reporting increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations, ABC News has learned. The climb in hospitalizations comes two weeks after Memorial Day celebrations, which public health officials in some affected states say likely contributed to the spike. Arkansas saw the greatest percentage increase in hospitalizations since May 25, with 65.8%. Tennessee is next, with a 65.1% increase, followed by Arizona, with 45.1%; North Carolina, 19.3%; Texas and Utah, both with 10.5%; South Carolina, 6.6%; and Mississippi, 3.5%. Dr. Matthew G. Heinz of Arizona’s Tucson Medical Center told ABC News “we weren’t ready to reopen,” referring to the state’s pandemic lockdown. “We hadn’t met the criteria set down by the WHO or the CDC to even begin to look at reopening the state but political leadership pushed us in that direction.” The New York Times earlier this week reported COVID-19 cases are on the upswing in some 20 states, plus Puerto Rico, in what could be a sign of the pandemic resurgence many experts have been predicting.

WHO official clarifies comments about asymptomatic COVID-19 spread
A top World Health organization official has clarified comments she made earlier this week, when she declared that it was “rare” for people infected with COVID-19 but who show no outward symptoms to spread the virus. Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead, told reporters Monday, “it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual.” Following widespread pushback from infectious disease experts and public health officials, Kerkhove Tuesday said her comments were the result of a “misunderstanding” during a Q&A and did not reflect WHO policy. Health officials worldwide have been mandating the wearing of masks by everyone in order to guard against COVID-19 infection by asymptomatic people. “There is, unequivocally, asymptomatic spread,” Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles Public Health Director, told ABC news. “I don’t want anyone to get confused that people who are asymptomatic may not be capable of spreading.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci “concerned” about how protests may spread COVID-19
The nation’s top infectious disease expert told ABC’s Good Morning America Wednesday that he’s concerned about how the ongoing national protests may accelerate the spread of COVID-19. “When you get congregations like we saw with the demonstrations as we have said, myself and other health officials, that’s taking a risk and unfortunately, what we’re seeing now is just an example of the kinds of things we were concerned about,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. While many of the demonstrators have worn masks, Fauci noted that “masks can help, but it’s masks plus physical separation” that best safeguards against viral transmission. Fauci said he remains “cautiously optimistic” about the progress toward an effective vaccine by year’s end or early 2021 but also cautioned that even then, “it’s not the end of the game.”