The United States reached 2 million reported cases of COVID-19 Wednesday. It remains the only country to have reported it hit the 1 million mark -- a number it has now doubled.
Johns Hopkins University's world map of coronavirus cases clicked the U.S. over the 2 million mark just before midnight eastern time Wednesday night.
There have been more than 112,000 deaths related to COVID-19 in the U.S., according to JHU. More than 533,000 people have recovered from COVID.
The U.S. total represents more than one-quarter of the 7.3 million reported cases worldwide. More than 415,000 people have died around the globe.
Brazil, which has seen a massive surge in coronavirus over the past month, has the second most reported cases at 772,000 followed by Russia with 493,000.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told Congress last month that the U.S. death toll is likely higher.
"There may have been people who died at home who were not counted as COVID because they never really got to the hospital," Fauci said.
As NPR notes, access to testing -- or lack thereof -- can make getting an accurate count difficult. Also, people with COVID may have mild or no symptoms, so they may never decide to get tested. And not all countries use the same criteria for determining what is a confirmed case.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some — especially older adults and people with existing health problems — it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
