US coronavirus cases reach highest numbers since August

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Thursday marked the country’s highest daily increase in COVID-19 cases since mid-August.

According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, there were more than 56,000 new confirmed cases of the contagion on Oct. 9. This brings the total number of individuals to test COVID-positive in the U.S to more than 7.6 million, with nearly 213,000 deaths, The Hill reports.

Globally, more than 36 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported, and more than 1 million deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The race for the cure is now on, as several pharmaceutical companies are competing to be first to deliver potential vaccines amid the rising coronavirus cases.

President Trump has vowed that a COVID-19 vaccine will be ready before the Nov. 3 elections, despite contradicting statements from experts and public health officials.

Sen. Kamala Harris said in Tuesday night’s debate that she wouldn’t trust a COVID-19 vaccine if only Trump himself said it was safe.

theGRIO previously reported, Dr. Michael Ryan, the executive director of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s health emergency program, has come forward to share an alarming new statistic.

According to The Associated Press, Ryan revealed that the most recent estimates indicate a significant percentage of the world’s population may have already been infected by the coronavirus this year.

“The disease continues to spread. It is on the rise in many parts of the world,” Ryan explained during a special session of the organization’s executive board. “Our current best estimates tell us that about 10% of the global population may have been infected by this virus.”

He also pointed out that the stats vary from urban to rural areas, and between different groups, but that ultimately “the vast majority of the world remains at risk.”

One of those groups whose cases stand out amongst the pack is Black Americans who have been disproportionately affected by the virus, both medically and financially.

Ryan said lockdowns “may be unavoidable where the disease has got out of control again, but we shouldn’t accept that in every country, the return of cases should be seen with an immediate return of the need for lockdown restrictions.”

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