US surpasses 5 million coronavirus cases

The U.S. has recorded more than 5 million coronavirus cases since the start of the outbreak in the country, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

More than 1.5 million people have recovered from COVID-19 in the country, while the U.S. has also reported more than 162,000 coronavirus-related deaths, according to Johns Hopkins.

The U.S. has reported the most confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths of any country. The number of new infections across the U.S. has shown signs of easing recently, though the number of cases remains high compared with earlier in the pandemic.

In some states, governors responded to spikes in June and July by implementing mandatory statewide mask policies and reimposing a number of restrictions. Other states, however, have largely kept nonessential businesses open despite the summer uptick.

In Georgia, for example, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) refused to implement a statewide mask mandate despite COVID-19 spikes and has sought to prohibit localities from imposing similar orders. In Florida, another hot spot for the virus, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) declined to impose a statewide order, though some local leaders across the state have put in place mandatory face covering requirements.

States such as Florida, Arizona and Texas saw their peaks in cases in mid- and late July, though they have dropped the past couple of weeks. For many states, the number of cases has started to trend downward but remains high, underscoring the difficulty of quickly getting the disease under control.

President Trump maintained in an interview with Axios released Monday that the pandemic is “under control as much as you can control it” in the U.S., saying that the death toll “is what it is.”

“They are dying, that’s true. And you have — it is what it is,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing everything we can. It’s under control as much as you can control it. This is a horrible plague.”

The interview was recorded before the coronavirus-related death toll in the U.S. surpassed 150,000. 

Trump has touted the push for developing a vaccine by the end of the year. He said Thursday he believes a vaccine will be ready around Election Day in November.