People visit the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington D.C., the United States, on May 22, 2020. As of Friday night, the United States has reported over 1.6 million cases of COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)
NEW YORK, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States reached 1,600,481 and the national death toll of COVID-19 rose to 95,921 as of 7:32 p.m. (2332 GMT) Friday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.
New York remains the hardest-hit state with 358,154 cases and 28,853 fatalities. Other states with over 50,000 cases include New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, California, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Texas, the CSSE data showed.
All 50 U.S. states have started the process of reopening as pushed by President Donald Trump in order to reverse an economic free fall, while health experts have warned that premature moves would lead to more infections and deaths.
Trump said on Thursday that the United States would not close if a second wave of COVID-19 comes.
"People say that's a very distinct possibility ... We're not going to close the country. We're going to put out the fires," Trump told reporters during a Ford manufacturing plant tour in the state of Michigan.
