U.S. coronavirus death toll rises above 100,000 in world’s deadliest outbreak

[CNBC]

• The U.S. has surpassed the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths as a result of the coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, significantly more than any other country in the world.
• A tally from Johns Hopkins University showed 100,047 deaths as of Wednesday evening.
• More than 5.6 million people have contracted the coronavirus across the globe, with the U.S. accounting for roughly 30% of total cases. 

Chicago Firefighters carry the remains of Firefighter Edward Singleton, a 33 year veteran of the Chicago Fire Department who died last week from complications from coronavirus disease (COVID-19), to a hearse following his funeral service in Chicago, Illinois, April 22, 2020.Shannon Stapleton | Reuters

The U.S. has surpassed the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths as a result of the coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, significantly more than any other country in the world.

A tally from Johns Hopkins University showed 100,047 deaths as of Wednesday evening.

More than 5.6 million people have contracted the coronavirus across the globe, with the U.S. accounting for roughly 30% of total cases. 

The U.K. has recorded the second-highest number of coronavirus fatalities, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. As of Wednesday, it had reported at least 37,542 deaths due to Covid-19. 

Brazil and Russia are second and third, respectively, when it comes to the number of Covid-19 infections confirmed to date. South America’s largest country has reported 391,222 cases of the virus, while Russia has recorded 370,680 infections. 

President Donald Trump, who is running for re-election later this year, has encouraged state governors to reopen businesses in order to boost the pandemic-stricken economy. 

In the first three months of the year, U.S. GDP (growth domestic product) fell by 4.8%. It marked the biggest quarterly economic contraction since the global financial crisis in 2008.

Meanwhile, the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Labour showed that some 38.6 million people in the world’s largest economy had lost their jobs in just nine weeks.

The rate of job losses has slowed sharply in recent weeks, but it remains at a level unseen since the Great Depression. 

Almost all states in the country have started to ease lockdown restrictions in recent days.

By Sam Meredith@SMEREDITH19