The number of people killed by coronavirus worldwide climbed past 800,000 on Saturday, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University
The grim milestone comes less than 24 hours after officials with the World Health Organization said they believe the virus will be under control within two years.
The United States has so far reported more COVID-19 deaths than anywhere else in the world. According to the most recent data, 5.6 million Americans have been infected with coronavirus, including more than 175,000 who have succumbed to the disease. Of those, more than 32,000 victims lived in New York, 16,000 in New Jersey and nearly 12,000 in California.
California, Texas and Florida have also seen their number of infections and deaths climb in recent weeks. On Saturday, the Sunshine State inched closer to 600,000 cases.
Officials believe the true numbers are actually far higher because of a lack of testing and reporting. In the U.S. health officials believe there may be 10 times more cases
Still, schools and businesses nationwide have slowly begun to reopen, sparking concern and debate among citizens. Despite restrictions and social distancing measures, some students and teachers have already become infected amid their return.
The U.S. is followed in number of coronavirus case by Brazil, where more than 113,000 people have died from the fast-spreading disease.
Worldwide, nearly 23 million people have been infected with COVID-19.
