The United States recorded nearly 1,200 COVID-19 deaths on Thursday as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. passed the 5.25 million mark — the highest in the world by far. U.S. nursing homes reported another surge in infections that threatens the lives of the country’s most vulnerable populations. In Los Angeles, school bus drivers led a noisy protest caravan Thursday, circling City Hall to demand more funding for coronavirus safety measures before schools reopen. This is John Lewis, who’s driven a school bus in L.A. for 30 years.

John Lewis: “I miss work. I love my job. I love the students, the people I work with. But I understand why we can’t be at work right now, because it’s just not safe right now.”

Across five states, more than 2,000 students, teachers and school employees have been quarantined, after hundreds tested positive for the coronavirus at the start of the school year. That includes nearly 1,200 people quarantined in the Cherokee County School District outside Atlanta, Georgia.