U.S. now has one-third of all the coronavirus cases on the planet – 70 deaths reported in one veteran’s home

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States passed 1 million on Tuesday as the death toll climbed to more than 58,000 nationwide, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University. There have been over 3 million cases worldwide and more than 216,000 deaths globally. Nearly 70 residents sickened with the coronavirus have died at a Massachusetts home for aging veterans, as state and federal officials try to figure out what went wrong in the deadliest known outbreak at a long-term care facility in the U.S.

While the death toll at the state-run Holyoke Soldiers’ Home continues to climb, federal officials are investigating whether residents were denied proper medical care and the state’s top prosecutor is deciding whether to bring legal action. “It’s horrific,” said Edward Lapointe, whose father-in-law lives at the home and had a mild case of the virus. “These guys never had a chance.”

Sixty-eight veteran residents who tested positive for the virus have died, officials said Tuesday, and it’s not known whether another person who died had COVID-19. Another 82 residents and 81 employees have tested positive. The home’s superintendent, who’s been placed on administrative leave, has defended his response and accused state officials of falsely claiming they were unaware of the scope of the problem there.  –CBS News

Spain has the second highest number of cases with at least 232,000. More than 56,400 Americans have died with COVID-19 – an average of about 2,000 a day this month. The number of deaths is thought to be higher as state public health officials warned shortages of trained workers and materials has limited testing capacity. About 30% of the entire country’s cases have occurred in New York state, followed by New Jersey, Massachusetts, California and Pennsylvania.

More than 74,000 Americans are now predicted to die by 4 August – a stark increase from a 22 April forecast of more than 67,600, according to the University of Washington’s predictive model which is often cited by White House officials. With the world’s third-largest population, the US has around five times as many cases as the next hardest-hit countries of Spain, Italy and France. However, it has about 30 infections per 10,000 people compared to Spain’s 48, and the US figure is also lower than Belgium, Switzerland and Italy.

China, where COVID-19 originated in December last year, has nearly 84,000 confirmed cases and 4,637 recorded deaths from the disease, although that number is expected to be higher. The US has the highest number of coronavirus deaths in the world and it now exceeds the total number of Americans killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, which was 36,516. However, the number falls far short of the deaths from Spanish flu, which began in 1918 and killed 675,000 Americans, according to US authorities.  –Sky News