About 3.5 billion people across the world, including 251 million in the United States alone, reside in areas that have issued voluntary or mandatory quarantine orders to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic afflicting the vast majority of the globe.

That means over 45 percent of the world’s population of about 7.6 billion and more than three-quarters of the 329.5 million people in the United States are living under lockdown orders.

The highly contagious and deadly coronavirus illness (COVID-19) is plaguing 177, or about 90 percent, of the countries and territories of the world, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.

“Nearly 3.5 billion people around the world are living in voluntary or mandatory confinement,” the Guardian noted Monday, echoing other sources.

Meanwhile, in the United States, “at least 251 million people in at least 30 states, 81 counties, 15 cities, and one territory are being urged to stay home,” the New York Times reported Monday.

The disease has spread to all 50 states, Washington, DC, and four territories, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed.

On Monday, the Times added:

The [U.S.] directives to keep people at home to stunt the spread of the coronavirus began in California, and have quickly been adopted across the country. By Monday, more than half the states and the Navajo Nation had told their residents to stay at home as much as possible, with many cities and counties joining in.
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People can generally still leave their homes for necessities — to go to the grocery store, to go to the doctor, and to get fresh air.

More than half of the U.S. states, including the top three hardest-hit by the virus, have announced statewide “stay at home” orders — New York (66,526 cases; 1,220 deaths), New Jersey (16,636 cases; 198 deaths), and California (6,346 cases; 132 deaths).

Although Florida (5,473 cases; 63 deaths), is among the top five coronavirus hotspots in the United States, in fifth place as of Monday, it has not implemented a quarantine order for the entire state.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, however, has issued a “stay at home” order for parts of southeast Florida. Nine counties across Florida have ordered all residents to stay home.

Some U.S. jurisdictions, particularly New York, have announced that they are ready to impose legal penalties for residents who ignore the anti-coronavirus restrictions.

Consequences for those who flout coronavirus rules in the U.S. currently include fines and jail time.

The U.S. federal government has issued social distancing and other guidelines to combat the coronavirus but stopped short of implementing a nationwide quarantine, leaving it up to the states and localities to implement and enforce restrictions.

As a result, there is currently a patchwork of local and state ordinances that use different terms, including “shelter in place,” “stay at home,” or “safer at home.”

Coronavirus is affecting different areas across the United States and the world differently.

CDC revealed that coronavirus had infected nearly 41,00 and killed more than 2,400 in the United States as of Monday.

Across the world, coronavirus had infected over 770,000 people and killed nearly 37,000, Johns Hopkins reported.