U.S. COVID-19 death toll passes 1,000, nearly a third of them in New York City


The U.S. passed 1,000 deaths from the COVID-19 coronavirus on Wednesday, hitting 1,046 deaths by Thursday morning, according to a running count kept by Johns Hopkins University. Nearly a third of those deaths, 280, were in New York City, where "a makeshift morgue was set up outside Bellevue Hospital, and the city’s police, their ranks dwindling as more fall ill, were told to patrol nearly empty streets to enforce social distancing," The Associated Press reports.
The U.S. has about 69,200 confirmed cases of COVID-19, making it No. 3 after China and Italy. Spain overtook China in registered COVID-19 deaths, 3,647, while Italy is reporting 7,503 deaths. Overall, there are more than 480,000 confirmed cases worldwide, 21,600 deaths, and 115,850 patients who recovered. Nearly a third of the world's population is in lockdown to slow the virus' spread.
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.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Donald Trump takes a cognitive test | May 13 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Tuesday's editorial cartoons feature a 'Bribe Force 1' 747 from Qatar, the concepts of a trade deal, ICE agents surrounding the Statue of Liberty, and cuts to Medicaid.
-
Why are white South Africans emigrating?
The Explainer As the US welcomes Afrikaner refugees, the general exodus of South Africa's white population continues to grow
-
Why the weather keeps getting 'stuck'
In the Spotlight Record hot and dry spring caused by 'blocked' area of high pressure above the UK
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measles
Speed 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 finds
Speed 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 influence
Speed 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 spreads
Speed Read Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes unsupported claims about containing the spread as vaccine skepticism grows
-
Texas outbreak brings 1st US measles death since 2015
Speed read The outbreak is concentrated in a 'close-knit, undervaccinated' Mennonite community in rural Gaines County
-
Mystery illness spreading in Congo rapidly kills dozens
Speed Read The World Health Organization said 53 people have died in an outbreak that originated in a village where three children ate a bat carcass
-
Ozempic can curb alcohol cravings, study finds
Speed read Weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy may also be helpful in limiting alcohol consumption
-
New form of H5N1 bird flu found in US dairy cows
Speed Read This new form of bird flu is different from the version that spread through herds in the last year