(NEW YORK) — Here are today’s In Crisis headlines:
Investigators seek motive in Friday’s deadly Capitol Hill attack
Authorities continue to search for a motive in the deadly vehicle ramming attack at the Capitol Friday that left one Capitol Police officer dead and another officer injured. The suspect, Noah Green, 25, was killed by police after he exited his vehicle, armed with a knife, and moved toward officers. Investigators are examining his life and social media over the past several weeks to determine a possible motive or if mental illness might have been a factor. His social media posts featured a number of increasing religious references, including to the biblical Book of Revelation and the Nation of Islam, though it’s unclear if Green’s religious beliefs were a factor in Friday’s incident. The Washington Post reported Green’s family members had, in recent years, become concerned about his mental state and suicidal thoughts. The possibility that the attack was staged to provoke a “suicide by cop” scenario is also being examined by investigators, sources say.
Week two of Derek Chauvin trial begins today
The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is expected to focus on Chauvin’s training on Monday after a first week that was dominated by emotional testimony from eyewitnesses, and the video of Floyd’s May 25 arrest. Chauvin, who’s white, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death during that arrest after pinning his knee on the 46-year-old Black man’s neck for nine minutes, 29 seconds as Floyd lay face-down in handcuffs outside of a corner market, repeatedly saying that he couldn’t breathe. Prosecutors say Chauvin’s knee killed Floyd, while the defense argues that Chauvin did what he was trained to do and that Floyd’s alleged drug use and underlying health conditions caused his death.
COVID-19 numbers
Here’s the latest data on COVID-19 coronavirus infections, deaths and vaccinations.
Latest reported COVID-19 numbers globally per Johns Hopkins University
Global diagnosed cases: 131,401,449
Global deaths: 2,854,665. The United States has the most deaths of any single country, with 555,001.
Number of countries/regions: at least 192
Total patients recovered globally: 74,560,696
Latest reported COVID-19 numbers in the United States per Johns Hopkins University
There are at least 30,706,277 reported cases in 50 states + the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. This is more than in any other country.
U.S. deaths: at least 555,001. California has the greatest number of reported deaths in the U.S., with 59,614.
U.S. total people tested: 398,256,783
The greatest number of reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is in California, with 3,675,272 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 39.51 million. This ranks second in the world after England, which has 3,812,188 cases. Texas is second in the U.S., with 2,802,373 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 29 million.
Latest reported COVID-19 vaccination numbers in the United States
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports a total of 207,891,295 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. Of those, 165,053,746 doses have been administered, with 106,214,924 people receiving at least one dose and 61,416,536 people fully vaccinated, representing 32% and 18.5% of the total U.S. population, respectively. The Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines each require two doses to be effective. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires a single dose to be effective.
COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations rising again
As vaccination continues and states and municipalities ease pandemic restrictions, the U.S. COVID-19 national case average is continuing to tick up slowly but steadily. It now stands at around 63,000 cases a day, a nearly 20% increase in the past two weeks. Current hospitalizations also continue to tick up gradually, now standing at just under 34,000. The country is averaging now averaging over 5,000 new COVID-19 hospital admissions each day, a 4.5% increase in the last week. The U.S. now has reported more than 30.7 million COVID-19 cases, meaning one in every 10 Americans has now tested positive for COVID-19. The U.S. death toll now stands at just over 555,000, meaning one in every 592 Americans has died as a result of the virus, though the national daily death average appears to have dipped slightly to an average of just over 800 deaths reported a day. The CDC currently forecasts a total of 565,000 to 585,000 COVID-19 U.S. deaths from COVID-19 will be reported by the week ending April 24.
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