Coronavirus Monday update, May 4

Enlarge / Travelers wearing protective face masks stand around social distancing floor markers at "Gare du Nord" railway station as the lockdown continues due to the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) on May 04, 2020 in Paris, France. (credit: Chesnot / Getty Images)

During the pandemic, Ars has done its best to keep you on top of the most important news. But there are definitely gaps in our coverage: small updates to stories we've covered, or news that we've decided wasn't worth the time to report deeply. Focusing on breaking news also limits our opportunity to provide bigger-picture perspective. To make up for this, we're going to try doing a series of Monday updates to help keep you informed.

You can read Ars' comprehensive coronavirus FAQ, or browse all of our coronavirus coverage.

Current counts: 3.5 million confirmed cases globally; 1.15 million of those in the United States. 250,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19; 62,000 deaths in the US.

Global trends

On Friday, the World Health Organization extended its declaration of global health emergency. SARS-CoV-2 is now being actively transmitted on every inhabited continent, and many new cases are occurring in developing nations in Africa and South America, which have more limited health care systems and far less testing capacity. Thus, it's difficult to tell just how much the virus is spreading in these countries (to be fair, it's difficult to tell how fast it's spreading in many developed nations as well).

Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments