US adds 57,000 virus cases in 24 hours
The United States on Monday recorded 57,039 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, Johns Hopkins University reported in its real-time tally.
The US is the hardest-hit country in terms of both death toll and total caseload, which stood at 4,286,663 as of 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Tuesday), according to the Baltimore-based university.
An additional 679 deaths brought the overall death toll to 147,588.
After a drop in infection rate in the late spring, the US has seen a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, particularly in southern and western states such as California, Texas, Alabama and Florida.
Until Sunday, the number of daily infections had exceeded 60,000 for 12 straight days, with some days notching more than 70,000 new cases.
Last weekend, the number of deaths reported in 24 hours had exceeded more than 1,000 for four days in a row. The last time daily tolls were so high was in May.
The slight dip on Sunday and Monday could be due to local health authorities' slower response over the weekend.
© 2020 AFP
