Coronavirus Total Deaths, Cases: What Parts Of The US And The World Are Top Hotspots?

The coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, with the U.S. and Brazil being some of the world’s major hotspots. As of Saturday at 10:35 p.m. there are 2,828,772 cases of the virus, and a death toll of 197,924.

The U.S. continues to have the most cases, with 905,364 people infected. The coronavirus has killed 51,956 in the U.S. since Feb. 29, when a 58-year-old Seattle man became the first announced U.S. death.

Boston and New York City are considered top hotspots in the country. New York had long been considered the epicenter, while Massachusetts has seen a surge in the past week. Massachusetts recently eclipsed 2,500 deaths and 50,000 cases.

"We're right in the middle of the surge now," Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Multiple states, such as Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin, have extended their stay-at-home orders into May, closing down most non-essential businesses. On Friday, thousands of protesters gathered in Wisconsin’s capital, Madison, to protest the order and urge state lawmakers to reopen the economy. The protests come after other swing states in the upcoming presidential election have staged similar demonstrations.

Other states, such as Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, are planning to reopen their economies. Public health experts have warned that opening too soon could cause a spike in cases.

Several European countries, such as Germany, Italy and Austria, are reopening some non-essential businesses.

Other European nations, such as Russia, are seeing cases ramp up, with Moscow reporting 5,966 new cases on Saturday. This brings Russia’s total cases to 74,588.

In South America, Brazil is facing a major outbreak of the virus, with 54,043 cases and 3,704 deaths. Medical officials in Rio De Janeiro and other major Brazilian cities have warned that their hospitals are on the brink of collapse.

A major concern is that the virus will spread in the country’s poorest neighborhoods, also known as favelas, with residents lacking access to the care they would need.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has routinely mocked the virus, calling it the “little flu” and opposing shutdowns to curb the spread of the disease. Last week, he fired the country’s Health Minister who had advocated restrictive anti-virus measures and as the Bolsonaro administration pushes to reopen the economy.