U.S. now has more virus cases than any other nation; global total exceeds 500,000

NEW YORK, NY — The United States now has the world's most confirmed coronavirus cases at 81,321 as of Thursday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University tally.

The New York Times first reported that the U.S. leads the world with more known cases than China, Italy or any other country has seen.

In just one week's time, the U.S. went from 1,100 reported cases to more than 80,000.

The global total of coronavirus infections is now over a half-million, based on the count kept by Johns Hopkins.

Italy currently has 80,539 cases, almost as many as China.

Italy reported 662 deaths on Thursday, bringing the country’s death toll to 8,165, which is the highest fatality count in the world. The U.S. death toll is now over 1,000.