Outbreak intensifies throughout America

An infant from the Chicago area died of COVID-19 on Saturday, according to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. “If you haven’t been paying attention, maybe this is your wake-up call,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the state’s Department of Public Health director.

Where is the disease spreading? Major cities like New York, Chicago, Detroit, and New Orleans report a rapid rise in infections. But COVID-19 is finding its way quickly into small towns and rural areas. On Sunday, President Donald Trump extended his administration’s social distancing recommendations through the end of April, calling his earlier hopes for reopening the economy by Easter “aspirational.” The United States continued to lead the world in confirmed cases on Monday, with more than 143,000. More than 2,500 Americans have died from the disease, while nearly 5,000 have recovered.

Dig deeper: Keep up with the latest worldwide statistics through Johns Hopkins University.

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated this report since its initial posting.