Global cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, have surpassed 10,000,000 globally as the US cases spike, according to data analysed from Johns Hopkins University.
There have been 10,104,045 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 and 500,822 deaths from the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University tally on Sunday.
More than 25 percent of the global cases come from the US, according to the Johns Hopkins Data, as there have been at least 2,530,587 cases confirmed as of Saturday. In the US, 125,630 people have died from COVID-19, also about 25 percent of the global total.
The United States accounts for the majority of global cases of the virus. Brazil is second to the US with 1,313,667 confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to Johns Hopkins data. By the end of next month, Brazil could surpass the US in the number of positive cases of the novel coronavirus.
China, where the disease was first discovered and where citizens underwent strict government-imposed months-long lockdowns, has reported 84,745 cases.
In recent weeks, cases in the US have spiked as new epicenters have emerged particularly in heavily populated areas in southern states.
As The Washington Post noted Saturday, Texas, Florida, and Arizona have emerged as new epicenters, repeatedly breaking their own records for the number of observed single-day increases and experiencing increases in hospitalizations related to the virus.
For more than 16 days in a row as of Saturday, Texas set a record for hospitalizations related to COVID-19, according to The Washington Post. More than 5,500 patients are currently being treated in Texas hospitals. Arizona has also reported a record 2,577 ongoing coronavirus hospitalizations, according to the report.
As cases spike, measures to mitigate the virus' spread remain controversial. State leaders, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have refused calls to mandate the wearing of face masks even as experts say they are vital to mitigating community spread.
Republicans, like President Trump who won't wear one in public, have politicized their existence.
At a press conference Friday, Vice President Mike Pence listed ways in which Americans could protect themselves from the virus, but notably did not mention the wearing of facial coverings or the practice of social distancing, as USA Today noted.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said earlier Sunday she believed a nationwide mask mandate was "long overdue."
Beginning in May, all 50 US states began to relax stay-at-home and other similar orders meant to limit community transmission of the virus. On Friday, the US broke its all-time record for the highest number of reported COVID-19 cases in a single day – surpassing 40,000 for the first time.
In Texas – a growing epicentre that reported 5,747 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, just shy of its record 5,996 single-day increase reported on June 25, Gov. Greg Abbot said he reopened bars too soon, ordered them to close, and reduced restaurant capacity to 50 percent.
Some US leaders, including President Donald Trump, have said that the significant increase in cases is a product of increased testing capacity in the US, though experts have said that's not accurate as a greater share of tests administered has returned positive results.
Trump has even suggested he's attempted to limit the number of tests administered in order to make the number of positive COVID-19 cases appear smaller.
Experts, including US Surgeon General Jerome Adams, have said some US states may have prematurely opened businesses, contributing to current spikes.
This article was originally published by Business Insider.
More from Business Insider: