USA Today (3/26, James) reports that the US “surged past China and Italy to become the planet’s most infected nation Thursday, a stark milestone in the coronavirus era – and a reminder of its deadly, culture-changing effects on American life.” The piece says “the Johns Hopkins University dash board showed the U.S. with 82,404 COVID-19 infections as of 6 p.m., ET, moving past Italy (80,589) and China (81,782).”

The Washington Post (3/26, Hauslohner, Thebault, Dupree) reports “Americans have died in 42 states and territories and the District, with punishing increases in Louisiana and Michigan.” Some “experts fear the worst is still to come, pointing to a rapid acceleration of cases in communities across the country.” The Post says that “in the first 1,000 fatalities, some patterns have begun to emerge in the outbreak’s epidemiology and its painful human impact.” For example, “about 65 percent of people whose ages are known were older than 70 and nearly 40 percent were over 80.”

Another Washington Post (3/26, Dennis) piece says that “worldwide, the death toll eclipsed 23,000, and the total number of confirmed cases crossed half a million, with few signs of slowing.” In addition, on Thursday officials announced “that more than 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits over the past week, a number that obliterated the previous record set in 1982.”

The ADA News offers data on COVID-19, which is updated daily.