Confirmed COVID-19 cases have now surpassed a global total of 40 million.
While the actual number of cases around the world is believed to be significantly higher due to a variety of factors, the latest number comes from the team at Johns Hopkins University, who—per the Associated Press' update on Monday—is now reporting 40,088,893 confirmed cases.
Last week, analysis of Johns Hopkins University data from USA Today showed that the U.S. could hit a new weekly case count record in early November if the current spread pattern continues. Speaking with the publication, Caitlin Rivers—an epidemiologist at the university—said that such a record is not out of the question.
"It's not crazy to think that we would get there sooner than we would all like," Rivers said at the time. The latest Johns Hopkins data shows that the U.S. now has 8.1 million confirmed cases with nearly 220,000 deaths.
As has been repeatedly stated throughout updates to worldwide and national COVID-19 case totals, factors that contribute to the actual counts actually being much higher than the confirmed tallies include those who asymptomatic and may never get tested, as well as administrations that have intentionally underreported the number of cases for political reasons.
Earlier this month, Chris Christie—the former New Jersey governor and an active Trump supporter who recently helped the purported POTUS with debate prep—conceded that he was "wrong" to not take mask-wearing seriously after spending seven days in the ICU with COVID-19.
