Per NBC News’s count, the United States logged over 5 million COVID-19 infections as of 6:33 pm EDT Saturday. It was January 21st when the first case was reported, reaching the 1 million mark 99 days later on April 29th.
43 days later on June 11th: 2 million cases.
28 days later, July 8th: 3 million cases.
15 days later, July 23rd: 4 million cases.
16 days later, August 8th: 5 million cases.
On July 23rd National Zero estimated that the 5 million mark would be reached on or about August 1st, given the pace seen with the previous milestones roughly halving the number of days to reach an additional 1 million. That it took an additional 7 days could be an encouraging sign that the pace of outbreaks in the United States is at least stabilizing – or something more nefarious is going on with data reporting.