Coronavirus USA Update: US Death Toll Hits 5,865; Deaths Exceed 1,000 In One Day

The United States on Thursday tallied more than 1,000 deaths from COVID-19 in a single 24 hour period -- the first time the daily U.S. death toll has hit 1,000 -- on the same day total deaths in the country broke past 5,000.

The frightful death count stood at 5,865 as of 22:47 GMT on Thursday, which was 1,106 more deaths compared to 4,759 at about the same time Wednesday, according to data from Worldometer. Total confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. on Thursday came to 242,899, which is 29,919 larger than Wednesday's 212,980.

The U.S. remains world leader in total confirmed COVID-19 infections and has the third highest death toll after Italy (13,915) and Spain (10,348). China is fourth on the death list with 3,318 fatalities.

Wyoming remains the only state without a single confirmed COVID-19 death to-date. It has, however, reported 137 positive cases. In New York State, the hardest hit by the coronavirus in case numbers and deaths, Thursday saw 3,936 new cases and 278 new deaths. These numbers brought the Empire State's total confirmed case count to 83,712 and its deaths to 1,941, according to CNN's tally. New York accounts for 34% of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S.

The White House reports president Donald Trump took his second coronavirus test Thursday, this time using the new 15-minute rapid point-of-care test approved recently by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It said Trump again tested negative for coronavirus for a second time. Trump was first tested for the novel coronavirus on March 14 and came out negative.

Dr. Sean Conley, the Physician to the President and a Commander in the U.S. Navy, said Trump isn’t displaying any symptoms of infection.

"It took me literally a minute to take it," said Trump Thursday. "I took it really out of curiosity."

The debate about the effectiveness of facemasks in preventing the spread of the coronavirus seems to have come out in favor of using facemasks. A new and disturbing study concludes the novel coronavirus can be spread by people simply speaking to one another. Even breathing might spread the coronavirus.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a new study revealing just how easily the coronavirus can spread from person to person. The study says “presymptomatic transmission might occur through generation of respiratory droplets or possibly through indirect transmission. Speech and other vocal activities such as singing have been shown to generate air particles, with the rate of emission corresponding to voice loudness.” The finding seems to confirm talking, singing and even breathing are other modes of transmission for the novel coronavirus.

The report studied the coronavirus' transmission between January 23 and March 16 in Singapore. It found presymptomatic people are spreading COVID-19. Presymptomatic transmission means people were infected by others who had the coronavirus but weren't displaying symptoms. These findings contribute to a growing mountain of evidence from several other studies with similar findings.

“One of the (pieces of) information that we have pretty much confirmed now is that a significant number of individuals that are infected actually remain asymptomatic. That may be as many as 25%,” said CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles ordered residents to wear non-medical grade face coverings when in public. Mayor Eric Garcetti said face coverings include face masks, dust masks and bandannas. He also also pointed out all medical-grade N95 masks are reserved for front-line workers in hospitals and clinics.

“Please do not get medical grade or surgical masks, or N95 masks," said Garcetti. "We must not contribute to the shortage of these essential personal protective equipment for medical personnel and first responders."

Statistical modeling conducted by IHME (the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington) and released recently estimates April 14 will be the day with the highest number of deaths per day from COVID-19 in the U.S. IHME predicts 2,341 deaths on April 14 (a Tuesday) alone. By August 4, IHME foresees 81,114 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S.