Number of U.S. coronavirus (COVID-19) cases from January 22 to August, 2020, by day

Approximately 67,500 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the United States on August 2, 2020. Between January 20 and August 2 there have been 4,523,888 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 152,630 deaths in the U.S as reported by the World Health Organization.

How did the coronavirus outbreak start?

Pneumonia cases with an unknown cause were first reported in the Hubei province of China at the end of December 2019. Patients described symptoms including a fever and a difficulty breathing, and early reports suggested no evidence of human-to-human transmission. We now know that a novel coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2 is causing the disease COVID-19. The virus has been characterized as a pandemic and continues to spread from person to person: there have been nearly 17 million cases worldwide as of July 29, 2020.

The importance of isolation and quarantine

In an effort to contain the spread of the virus, China tightened travel restrictions and enforced isolation measures in the hardest-hit areas. The World Health Organization endorsed this strategy, and countries around the world implemented similar quarantine measures. Staying at home can limit the spread of the virus, and this applies to individuals who are only showing mild symptoms or none at all. Asymptomatic carriers of the virus – those that are experiencing no symptoms – may transmit the virus to people who are at a higher risk of getting very sick.