Coronavirus News: Sunday, August 30 – California Surpasses 700,000 Cases, Colleges Fight Outbreaks

Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

The worldwide number of virus cases, which topped the 25 million mark on Saturday, now stands at 25.28 million, an increase of almost 258,000 cases in the past 24 hours.  The number of deaths stands at over 848,462, and over 17.61 million people have recovered, based on data compiled by Worldometer, a service that aggregates and makes available world statistics.

The United States continues to lead the world in the number of coronavirus cases reported, crossing the 6 million mark on Thursday. Officials reported 44,639 new infections on Sunday. The figure currently stands at 6.15 million, while the coronavirus death toll stands at almost 187,000. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now forecasts that the death toll will be over 200,000 by September 19.

On Saturday, California became the first U.S. state to cross the 700,000 figure for known coronavirus cases.  The state hit 600,000 cases on August 13, just 16 days earlier.

Also on Saturday, officials in the Dakotas announced single-day records for new coronavirus cases, with over 370 in North Dakota and more than 420 in South Dakota.

The State University of New York at Oneonta will close for two weeks after more than 100 people there tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Sunday. Over 60 colleges and universities have reported coronavirus outbreaks since the start of classes over the past ten days.  Some have returned to remote learning as a result.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India reported 78,761 new infections on Sunday, its second highest single-day increase in cases since the start of the pandemic. The country now has a total of 3.54 million cases of the novel coronavirus.

Meanwhile, In Europe, leaders are still grappling with increases in infections, and they warn that new lockdown measures may be required to contain the spread of the virus.  French President Emmanuel Macron said the government is doing “everything to avoid a new lockdown,” while, earlier in the week, German Bundeskanzler Angela Merkel warned of a difficult time ahead.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)