Coronavirus By The Numbers: Over 6 Million People Filed For Unemployment Last Week, Americans Buy Guns In Record Numbers

(This story was updated at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 2) 

Topline: The coronavirus outbreak —  which likely originated in Wuhan, China and spread to the rest of the world — is now a pandemic affecting 180 countries, shutting down travel and launching a global recession; here are the latest numbers:

• World: Total confirmed cases as of 9:00 a.m. ET: 952,171— Total deaths: 48,320 — Total recoveries: 202,541.
• U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 9:00 a.m. ET: 216,722 — Total deaths: 5,137 — Total recoveries: 8,672.
• U.S. unemployment: 6,648,000 people filed for unemployment last week, a record high (the latest weekly jobless claims figure showed over 3 million applying unemployment benefits.)

Crucial quote: Vice President Mike Pence told NPR that Americans should “fully expect” disruptions from the virus to last into July.

“We fully expect that we will be dealing with the coronavirus in the United States for months,” Pence said Wednesday. “And as the president said yesterday, according to some of our modeling, we could well be dealing with coronavirus cases in the United States well into July.”

Surprising fact: 1.9 million. Americans are buying guns in record numbers. According to a New York Times


NYT
analysis of federal data, 1.9 million people bought guns in March, the second most in a month ever. The busiest month for gun sales was January 2013, after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.