More than 6 million people confirmed to have COVID-19 across world, according to Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins expert on why we’re still early in coronavirus outbreak

Dr. Gabe Kelen, director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Johns Hopkins, explains how flattening the curve doesn’t necessarily mean a sooner end to the outbreak.

More than 6 million have contracted COVID-19 across the world as of May 30, according to the most recent data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

The United States leads the world with the most cases with over 1.7 million. The country also passed a grim milestone earlier this week with over 100,000 reported deaths related to COVID-19.

Countries such as Russia and the United Kingdom are working to contain and categorize their COVID-19 cases as they also strive toward reopening.

Russia has the world's third-largest coronavirus caseload with more than 387,000, following the U.S. and Brazil.

The United Kingdom has started to reopen schools and has allowed sports to resume under social distanced guidelines. However, some experts are warning against the country reopening too soon.

As states have started to allow in-restaurant dining and non-essential businesses to reopen, it is still feared a second wave of infections is imminent.

“We are nowhere near the peak. And there are several peaks. We just hit the first one, generally, and we’re sliding a bit downward,” according to Dr. Gabe Kelen, director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Johns Hopkins.

“We just saw a little mini peak now, with maybe 1 to 12, 13, 15% of the population in some sections infected. So it’s inevitable that unless a vaccine comes in, there’s still a huge swath of people remaining to be infected before this thing peters out. So a second wave is virtually inevitable, possibly even a third and a fourth,” Kelen said.

Amid the news that over 6 million people had contracted COVID-19 around the world, riots have taken place in major cities in the U.S. after the death of George Floyd.

Floyd had been detained by police after someone called about a man “under the influence” and sitting on his car outside of a local business. Vandalism and riots erupted in cities such as Atlanta, Los Angeles and Minneapolis as protestors demanded justice for Floyd.

Those massive protests have elevated fears of a new surge in cases of the coronavirus.

Violent protests erupt around the country in wake of George Floyd death

Days after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, people took to the streets in protest in dozens of cities around the country.

Minnesota’s health commissioner had warned just days earlier that the massive protests were almost certain to fuel new cases of the virus. Minnesota reported 35 deaths on Thursday, a single-day high since the start of the outbreak, and 29 more on Friday.

The Centers of Disease Control projected earlier this week that the number of coronavirus deaths in the U.S. will exceed 115,000 by June 20.

The projection was made using data gathered from 15 national forecasts this week, with the death rate varying among states. The forecasts themselves came from organizations such as Johns Hopkins University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and UCLA. The numbers were dependent on assumptions made regarding social distancing measures in the future.

With no larger orders from the federal government as to when economies can reopen, state and local leaders must navigate the challenging tightrope of reinvigorating their local economies and combating record unemployment levels while keeping their residents safe and preventing the spread of COVID-19.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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