US now has 500,000 coronavirus cases, more than double since the start of April

The United States surpassed 500,000 confirmed coronavirus cases Friday night, another grim milestone in the nation’s fight against the COVID-19 outbreak.

The U.S. now has 500,399 cases, which is almost one-third of the total number of cases in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The coronavirus pandemic is spreading quickly across the country. The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in the U.S. on Jan. 21, and the first death occurred Feb. 29, according to McClatchy News.

At the beginning of April, the U.S. had just passed 200,000 confirmed cases, which doubled in just days, McClatchy News reported. At the start of March, the country only had 100 confirmed cases, according to CNN.

At least 18,693 people have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. as of Friday night., according to Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. death toll will soon surpass Italy, which has 18,849.

Earlier this week, coronavirus deaths passed the death toll for H1N1, according to McClatchy News. From April 2009 to April 2010, 12,459 people in the U.S. died from H1N1, McClatchy News reported.

About 29,000 people have recovered from coronavirus as well, according to the data.

Most of the nation’s states are trying to slow the spread of coronavirus by initiating stay-at-home and shelter-in-place orders, according to The New York Times. More than 316 million people are being told to stay home, the news outlet reported.

President Donald Trump has also extended coronavirus safety guidelines until April 30, according to McClatchy News. Those guidelines include social distancing, avoiding travel, limiting gatherings to 10 people and staying away from nursing homes, according to McClatchy News.

This story was originally published April 10, 2020 at 7:25 PM with the headline "US now has 500,000 coronavirus cases, more than double since the start of April."