Earth Marks Grim New Record

The coronavirus has killed 500K, and that's not all
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 28, 2020 5:10 PM CDT
COVID-19 Death Toll Hits Staggering High
A demonstrator smokes a cigarette during a protest against Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro and his handling of the new coronavirus pandemic in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, June 28, 2020.   (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Only hours after planet Earth hit the shocking milestone of 10 million coronavirus cases, John Hopkins University revealed another: 500,000 deaths worldwide. That means the death toll doubled in a little over seven weeks, USA Today reports. The news comes amid a wave of negative stories for the US, where 36 states are seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases, states are reimposing lockdown restrictions, and travelers may be banned from visiting the EU. Meanwhile, CBS News reports that case numbers are rising quickly in South America—where Brazil has 1.2 million official cases and more than 57,000 dead—on a continent the World Health Organization calls the new pandemic epicenter. In related news:

  • The WHO announced a daily worldwide case record Sunday: more than 189,000 over a 24-hour period, ABC News reports. Brazil had the most in that span, with 46,800, followed by the US with over 44,400. The US still leads the world by a wide margin with over 2,450,000 cases.
  • South Africa is seeing a surge in cases and expects a dramatic increase over the next few weeks, the AP reports. The nation of 57 million has already tallied more than a third of all known cases in Africa, where 1.3 billion people live.
  • China imposed a harsh lockdown Sunday on nearly 400,000 people in Hebei province after more than a dozen new cases emerged. The South China Morning Post calls the measures "draconian" but not unlike lockdowns seen earlier in Chinese cities.
  • On the brighter side, NBC New York reports that New York state—once America's coronavirus epicenter—saw its daily death toll fall to a record low of five Sunday. And the AP reports that Italy, which leads continental Europe in fatalities, logged its lowest daily death toll since March 1: eight people.
(More coronavirus stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X