Coronavirus update: US surpasses 1 million COVID-19 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University

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Wednesday, April 29, 2020
This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January 2020 shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
CDC via AP-AP

The United States has surpassed one million confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The tally from Johns Hopkins shows the country with a total of 1,002,498 cases with 57,266 deaths. Worldwide, there are 3,08,467 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

President Donald Trump defended his administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic Tuesday as he met with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and promised to help states safely begin reopening their economies.

Trump, seated next to DeSantis in the Oval Office, insisted that the United States was doing enough testing to protect Americans reentering the workforce and said he would sign an executive order to address "liability problems" in the nation's food supply chain. He said the administration was talking to airlines about requiring temperature and virus checks for some travelers as they board flights. Trump has claimed for weeks now that airlines have been screening passengers, even though they're not.

And he said the idea of having passengers wear masks sounded "like a good idea."

The administration had been sharply criticized for not overseeing widespread testing, but Trump said no amount would ever be good enough for critics in the media.

The president dismissed suggestions that the administration was slow to respond to the threat of COVID-19, including reports that it was mentioned in his daily intelligence briefing in January and February. He stressed his decision to restrict flights from China - though more than 40,000 travelers from China still made it to the U.S. afterward - and said of the decision: "Whether it was luck, talent or something else, we saved many thousands of lives."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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