Coronavirus updates: US death toll tops 40,000 as stay-at-home protests continue
President Trump has spoken out in support of the protesters.
A global pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 165,000 people worldwide.
Over 2.4 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding the scope of their nations' outbreaks.
Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the United States has become the worst-affected nation, with more than 759,000 diagnosed cases and at least 40,683 deaths.
Many cities and states have begun counting probable deaths caused by COVID-19, including New York City, the U.S. epicenter of the disease. The number of cases in New York state alone is higher than in any single country outside the U.S.
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3:45 a.m.: US death toll tops 40,000 as stay-at-home protests continue
The novel coronavirus has now killed more than 40,000 people in the United States, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
Nearly half of all deaths -- over 18,000 -- occurred in New York state.
Meanwhile, opposition to stay-at-home orders has continued to build from coast to coast amid growing resentment against the crippling economic cost of confinement. Protests took place over the weekend in at least five states -- Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Tennessee and Washington. Last week, other stay-at-home protests took place in California, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Utah and Virginia.
Many of the demonstrations flout the social distancing guidelines put in place by the White House to stem the spread of the virus. Nevertheless, President Donald Trump has spoken out in support of the protesters, describing them as "great people" who "love our country" and "have got cabin fever."
"Their life was taken away from them," Trump said at a press briefing Sunday. "They want to get back to work."