(NEW YORK) — Here are today’s In Crisis headlines:
Officers involved in Breonna Taylor shooting death to be fired
Two Louisville, Kentucky police officers involved in the fatal March 13 shooting death of Breonna Taylor will be fired. Officer Myles Cosgrove and Detective Joshua Jaynes were both notified of their termination Tuesday, according to their attorneys, and will appear at a hearing Thursday before Louisville Police Chief Yvette Gentry to address their termination, which they can appeal. A statement from the Louisville Mayor’s Office declares, in part, that Gentry “has initiated disciplinary procedures for officers involved in the Breonna Taylor case, following investigations by LMPD’s Professional Standards Unit.”
Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, was shot and killed while she slept in her bed during the botched raid, during which Cosgrove, with fellow officers Jonathan Mattingly and Brett Hankison, executed a no-knock warrant on the apartment James shared with boyfriend Kenneth Walker. Walker fired a shot at the door from a licensed handgun during the raid, thinking the officers were intruders, whereupon officers fired 32 shots in return. Jaynes wasn’t present at the raid but prepared the search warrant for Taylor’s apartment, the purpose of which was to locate Taylor’s ex-boyfriend, an alleged drug dealer. Ballistics determined Cosgrove fired the shot that killed Taylor as she slept in her bed.
Brett Hankinson was fired in June and has since been indicted on wanton endangerment charges for firing shots during the raid that entered a neighboring apartment. Mattingly, who was shot in the leg during the raid, remains on the police force. No charges have been brought in connection with Taylor’s death.
COVID-19 numbers
Here’s the latest data on COVID-19 coronavirus infections and deaths.
Latest reported numbers globally per Johns Hopkins University
Global diagnosed cases: 82,083,787
Global deaths: 1,792,786. The United States has the most deaths of any single country, with 338,656.
Number of countries/regions: at least 191
Total patients recovered globally: 46,471,189
Latest reported numbers in the United States per Johns Hopkins University
There are at least 19,516,148 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 338,656. New York State has the greatest number of reported deaths in the U.S., with 37,687.
U.S. total people tested: 245,006,299
The greatest number of reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is in California, with 2,232,911 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 39.51 million. This ranks first in the world. England is second in the world, with 2,046,892 cases. Maharashtra, India, which has 1,925,066 cases, ranks third, while Texas is fourth, with 1,730,391 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 29 million.
Tuesday is second-deadliest day of the pandemic; yet another new hospitalization record set
Tuesday was the second-deadliest day of the pandemic, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, which reported 3,725 deaths yesterday. That breaks the previous single-day record total of 3,656 fatalities, set on December 16. That total could be even higher, since the holidays have significantly impacted reporting from states. December has already been determined the deadliest month of the pandemic, outpacing the previous record high in April.
Tuesday also saw yet another new single-day record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 124,686, according to the Covid Tracking Project. Those figures also could be higher, due to incomplete data reporting caused by the holidays.
The U.S. as of Wednesday morning has a reported 19,516,148 COVID-19 cases, with an average 178,049 new cases reported every day for the past seven days, according to the Covid Tracking Project. Officials are warning that the pandemic situation in the U.S. will likely grow even more dire into January, due in part to holiday gatherings and travel, with the full effect unable to be determined for several weeks.
US COVID-19 death toll now half of 1918 flu pandemic
The 338,656 U.S. COVID-19 deaths reported Wednesday morning by Johns Hopkins University is now more than half the number of U.S. deaths from the 1918 influenza pandemic, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports killed at least 675,000 Americans. It remains “the deadliest flu pandemic in recorded human history, claiming the lives of an estimated 50 million people worldwide,” according to the CDC. COVID-19 has so far caused 1,792,786 global fatalities. The CDC currently forecasts as many as 419,000 U.S. coronavirus deaths by the week ending January 16.
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