Over 1 Million People Have Been Infected With COVID-19 Worldwide

Over 1 Million People Have Been Infected With COVID-19 Worldwide According to Johns Hopkins University,
as of Friday, more than 1,033,000 people
have been infected with the virus. The U.S. has the most reported cases,
with nearly a quarter of a million infections. Nearly 55,000 deaths
have resulted from the pandemic. The global economy is likely
to shrink by 2 percent in the
first six months of 2020. The U.S. jobless rate in the
second quarter could
exceed 30 percent. The virus is reported
to have been first detected in a
human on Dec. 1 in Wuhan, China. On Dec. 30, test results showing
a SARS-like virus were posted on
social media by the head of the
Central Hospital ER department in Wuhan. Around the same time,
China's state media reported on
a mysterious pneumonia in the region. Neighboring cities hit hard by
SARS began fever screenings by Jan. 3. Shanghai scientists completed
the sequencing of the entire genome
of the new coronavirus on Jan. 11. Thailand confirmed its
first case two days later. In the
subsequent days, cases emerged in
several countries and in other major cities of China. Wuhan was placed on lockdown on Jan. 23.
Within days, 60 million people were in quarantine. By mid-Feb., the epicenter of
the virus had shifted to Europe.
Major cities in Italy's tourist region
were shut down beginning Feb. 22. In the U.S., the first known
death caused by COVID-19
occurred on Feb. 29. Two days after the World Health Organization
declared the coronavirus a pandemic on March 11, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency. Though much of the country is on lockdown,
the U.S. has emerged as the new epicenter of the virus. Experts warn that the virus
will hit in waves, similarly to
the flu pandemic of 1918.