More Than 50,000 People in the U.S. Have Died From Coronavirus

More than 50,000 people in the United States have died from the new coronavirus, about 82 percent of the country's total projected deaths.

The virus has spread throughout American communities nationwide, infecting 870,468 people as of Friday. Of those cases, 50,031 people have died, and updated projections from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) estimates that 60,308 people could perish by August 4.

That number of projected deaths was originally as high as 240,000, according to the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Critics of stay-at-home orders and the mandatory closure of businesses argue the higher projection was used by the government to encroach upon personal freedoms and abuse its power. But President Donald Trump, as well as other administration officials, attributed the decreased projection to Americans doing their part to slow the virus's spread.

Trump has released guidelines for states to reopen businesses and send people back to work, saying the intention was to do so while keeping vulnerable populations safe. Although optional, the plan says states should meet certain "gating" criteria before they move on to any of three phases.

By doing so at the state and not the federal level, the nation's reopening could be tailored to the outbreak's characteristics in a specific area. Some businesses in Texas and Vermont are set to open on Monday, while other states, such as Ohio, North Dakota and Idaho, plan to begin reopening on May 1.

Georgia's rate of daily confirmed deaths has been declining since Sunday, and on Friday businesses, including gyms, fitness centers, bowling alleys, body art studios, cosmetologists, hair designers, nail care artists, aestheticians and massage therapists, were able to reopen. Governor Brian Kemp said the state was on track to fulfill the gating criteria set forth by the White House, but Trump said he disagreed with Kemp's decision.

"I want them to open, and I want him to open as soon as possible," Trump said Thursday. "I didn't like to see spas opening, frankly."

The president acknowledged that Kemp had the ability to make the choice he believes is right but added that he didn't want the outbreak to "flare up" because Georgia didn't follow the guidelines.

America has had more deaths than any other country and nearly double those in Italy, which has the second highest number of deaths. While the nation is mourning the loss of life, Trump claimed during a briefing last Saturday that the context of the outbreak in America paints a less bleak picture.

On a per capita basis, he said, the mortality rate is "far lower" than Western European nations, except potentially Germany, where there have been 5,577 deaths. He added that despite what the reports say, China is "number one by a lot."

"They're way ahead of us in terms of death. It's not even close. You know it. I know it. And they know it," the president said.

China has reported 4,636 deaths and 83,885 cases, raising questions about the accuracy of its reporting. Since the start of the outbreak, journalists have pushed the World Health Organization on China's transparency, and it has been criticized for its defense of China's response. Trump has halted funds to the WHO until an investigation can be conducted to determine if it upheld its responsibility to share accurate health information or if it failed to question China properly, thereby allowing the virus to spread.

After days of reporting minimal deaths, officials in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus originated, reported 1,290 additional fatalities on Friday, raising the death toll by 50 percent. In a statement, officials claimed the rise in deaths was due to new data from multiple non-hospital sources, including funeral homes and prisons. China would "never allow any concealment," according to a foreign ministry spokesman.

America's largest metropolis, New York City, has been hit hardest by the virus and accounts for 16,388 of the nation's deaths. New Jersey and Michigan have also experienced some of the highest number of fatalities, but collectively they add up to only about 50 percent of New York's.

If the IHME projections are correct, America hit its peak in daily deaths on April 15 and the country as a whole should continue to see a decline. On June 18, the country is projected to start reporting zero deaths, a trend that's expected to continue through August 4.

Although trends in the data give officials hope that mitigation measures have been successful in helping to flatten the numbers curve, they've cautioned against falling into a false sense of security. To prevent additional deaths, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, urged states to heed warnings about not reopening too soon and said people should be patient.

"This is a successful formula. The problem is, if we don't do that, there is a likelihood that we'll have a rebound," Fauci said. "And the one way not to reopen the economy is to have a rebound that we can't take care of."