Virus roundup: Deaths top 800,000 worldwide; 23 million cases confirmed

The world hit a grim coronavirus milestone Saturday with 800,000 confirmed deaths and close to 23 million confirmed cases.

That’s according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. Governments have been attempting to balance public health with economic health.

Officials believe the true numbers are far higher because of a lack of testing and reporting. In the U.S., the nation with the most infections, health officials believe there may be 10 times more cases than the confirmed 5.6 million. The U.S. also leads the world in deaths, with more than 175,000.

In the U.S., schools have begun to reopen, with coronavirus outbreaks triggering sudden closings, quarantines and anxiety among parents.

Here are developments in the U.S. and around the world.

• Germany reported 2,000 new daily cases of coronavirus.
• South Korea is banning large gatherings, sports fans, shutting nightspots and churches as it battles the spread of the coronavirus.
• Fifteen Minnesota residents have contracted the coronavirus after being exposed during the 10-day Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. Minnesota health officials expect the number to grow.
• Washington state health officials say more than 30 coronavirus cases have been reported in an outbreak at a Bremerton hospital.
• New York state will apply for a federal program for unemployment money now that the state won’t have to add funds.
• The Czech Republic has recorded its biggest single-day increase in coronavirus cases.
• India recorded nearly 70,000 new coronavirus infections as the disease spreads across the country’s southern states after plateauing in the capital and the financial center of Mumbai.
• Health officials in China say in their report on the coronavirus that the country had no locally transmitted infections in the latest 24-hour period, though 22 cases were confirmed in Chinese arriving from abroad.
• Oregon public health experts say the number of new coronavirus cases in the state has dropped over the past month, but the decline hasn’t been enough for schools to safely open.
• The governing body for Pennsylvania interscholastic sports decided Friday to move forward with the fall season.

In politics

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden says he would do whatever was needed to keep the country safe amid the coronavirus pandemic even if that meant shutting down the country. The ABC interview airs Sunday night, but clips were provided Friday.

President Donald Trump is encouraging schools to reopen and people to get back to work.