According to a John Hopkins tally, more than 120,000 coronavirus cases were reported in the US in the past 24 hours, smashing a daily record set the day before.
123,085 new infections between 8:30 pm Wednesday and 8.30 pm Thursday, and 1,226 more deaths, the tally showed.
Health experts have warned that death toll due to the virus could reach 266,000 by end of November. Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Utah and Wisconsin are the states that are setting new daily records for infections. Thursday was the third day in a row that fatalities were above 1,000.
So far, more than 9.6 million people have contracted the virus and 234,000 have died in the US due to the pandemic. Hospitalisations are also surging— more than 53,000 people were hospitalised due to the coronavirus on Thursday. The increased number of cases if causing families to rethink their Thanksgiving plans— the festival falls on November 26.
President Trump’s Democratic election rival Joe Biden has strongly critiqued Trump’s handling of the coronavirus and how the President has time and again ignored recommendations from scientists.
With coronavirus cases surging across the country since mid-October, more than 100 million voters cast their ballot by mail or in person before Election Day to avoid crowded polling booths.
Ohio saw 4,961 new COVID-19 cases, while Utah saw a record of 2,807 new cases and in Minnesota, there were 4,000 new cases on Thursday. Authorities in Texas have imposed curfews, while Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced a stay at home advisory and Connecticut officials announced new capacity limits on restaurants, religious ceremonies and indoor event spaces.
