Global COVID-19 infections now exceed five million

May 21, 2020May 21, 2020 The Big Kahuna

onurdongel/iStock(NEW YORK) — The number of confirmed COVID-19 infections worldwide has now exceeded five million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

That increase represents a jump of 106,000 cases in 24 hours, which is the largest single-day increase since the pandemic first originated in Wuhan, China, said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a Wednesday statement.

The number of COVID-19 cases worldwide has been increasing by one million roughly every two weeks since April 1, when one million global cases were recorded. That number was two million by April 15, three million by April 27, and four million by May 9.

The United States still has the most confirmed infections of any single nation, with 1,551,853 and 93,439 deaths.

At least 1,913,103 people have died of the virus worldwide as of Monday morning.