The total number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed half a million Friday, according to counts from Johns Hopkins University and Reuters — accounting for nearly a third of all worldwide cases.
The country’s case total of 500,399 is greater than those of the three countries with the other highest counts in the world: France, Italy and Spain — the last of which has the second-most cases.
The U.S. total is over three times what Spain has reported, at 158,273. The U.S. was also close to surpassing Italy as the country with the most deaths from COVID-19 Friday night.
Italy has seen 18,849 deaths, while the U.S. has reported 18,637. Earlier Friday, the worldwide death toll surpassed 100,000.