This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January 2020 shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). This virus was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via AP)
Over half of the 80,000 coronavirus deaths in the U.S. have occurred in just five states, seemingly confirming the nature of COVID-19 as a concentrated and regionalized disease. The majority of these deaths have been in New York state, followed by New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
As of Sunday, the U.S. reported 80,773 coronavirus deaths — with 49,425 of those in these northeastern states. That’s roughly 61% of all reported COVID deaths.
New York has the highest number of deaths by far, reporting 26,812. New Jersey falls in second with 9,260.
The U.S. reported a total number of 1,367,079 confirmed coronavirus cases with 255,654 of those recovered — which is roughly 76%.
Utah is ranked 41st nationally in COVID-19 deaths and 34th for total confirmed cases, reporting 6,251 cases and 67 deaths in its Sunday update.
Gov. Gary Herbert praised these numbers from Utah during a briefing with the Utah Department of Health Thursday, noting the rate of deaths related to the virus are relatively low compared to other states. Herbert also commended the state for its lowering transmission rate, reporting that for every Utahn who contracts the virus they spread it to just one other person.
That transmission rate is also well under the national average, according to Herbert.