US deaths rise by more than 1,000 for third straight day
Peter Wells
The number of coronavirus cases in the US topped 4m on Thursday, with the world’s hardest-hit country reporting back-to-back days of more than 70,000 new infections and more than 1,000 new deaths for the third straight day.
A further 71,027 people in the US tested positive over the past 24 hours, according to Covid Tracking Project data, from 70,043 on Wednesday. That pushed the total number since the pandemic began to nearly 4.02m.
The US comprises about 26 per cent of total infections worldwide and almost 22 per cent of deaths, with 136,477 nationally since the outbreak began. A further 1,039 people in the US died from Covid-19, down from 1,126. It was the first time since late March the country has record three consecutive days of more than 1,000 fatalities.
Earlier this month, the seven-day average of daily deaths fell below 500 a day for the first time since April 1. That has now risen to 834.
California (12,040), Florida (10,249) and Texas (9,507) reported the biggest increase in cases and were among the 16 states that had daily jumps of more than 1,000 new infections.
California (157) and Florida (173) both reported record daily increases in fatalities, while Texas (173) eased from yesterday’s record jump of 197.
The number of patients currently hospitalised in the US with coronavirus stood at 59,363 as of Thursday, down 265 from the previous day’s total.
It is the highest since mid-April when hospitalisations were mostly concentrated in north-east states that were the hardest-hit at the time.