The global toll of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic reached another grim new milestone on Thursday as recorded deaths from the new virus topped 10,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering. As of Thursday night, 10,030 people have died from COVID-29, with more than half of the deaths in Italy (3,405) and China (3,132). Globally, 244,517 have been confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus, but that number is certainly much larger due to inadequate testing and inaccurate reporting by governments. At least 86,025 people have recovered.
Italy has the world's deadliest official coronavirus outbreak, but Iran's cases are almost certainly being underreported. Researchers at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran created a computer model of the country's epidemic that predicted more than 12,000 deaths in a best-case scenario — effective government quarantines, access to medical supplies currently strangled by U.S. sanctions — and in a more realistic scenario, 3.5 million deaths by late May.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The Week Unwrapped: How did Japan become a space superpower?Podcast Plus, why on earth are Labubu dolls so popular? Will buy-now-pay-later cause a new financial crisis?
-
The week's best photosIn Pictures A tomato fight, painting behind bars, and more
-
Mountainhead: Jesse Armstrong's tech bro satire sparkles with 'weapons-grade zingers'The Week Recommends The Succession creator's first feature film lacks the hit TV show's 'dramatic richness' – but makes for a horribly gripping watch
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sickspeed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last yearspeed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive orderspeed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measlesSpeed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths
-
Shingles vaccine cuts dementia risk, study findsSpeed Read Getting vaccinated appears to significantly reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia
-
Measles outbreak spreads, as does RFK Jr.'s influenceSpeed Read The outbreak centered in Texas has grown to at least three states and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promoting unproven treatments
-
RFK Jr. offers alternative remedies as measles spreadsSpeed Read Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes unsupported claims about containing the spread as vaccine skepticism grows
