US COVID Deaths Cross 2.5 Lakh As It Struggles To Contain Virus; 1400 Deaths In Last 24 Hrs
The United States continues to be the worst COVID-19 affected country in the world by a distance and it is only turing even worse there.
On Wednesday, the death toll from COVID-19 surpassed a grim new milestone of 250,000 lives lost in the US since the outbreak was first reported earlier this year.
As of Wednesday, COVID-19 had claimed at least 250,016 lives in the United States, which has documented about 11.5 million infections since the pandemic emerged, according to a Reuters tally of public healthcare data. The United States leads the world in both categories.
More than 1,400 of those victims perished during the past 24 hours.
The US has averaged 1,162 deaths a day over the past week, the highest level since late May and surpassing the summer apex of 1,142.
New York reported highest deaths
New York state reported the highest number of fatalities at 34,173, followed by Texas in the second place with 20,147 deaths.
The states of California, Florida and New Jersey have registered more than 16,000 deaths, the tally showed.
States with more than 9,000 fatalities also include Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Georgia.
US has world's highest caseload
The US has the world's highest caseload and death toll, accounting for more than 18 per cent of the global deaths.
It is not just deaths that are mounting in the US, nearly 79,000 COVID-19 patients were reported in hospitals as of Wednesday, the highest number yet for a single day, up from about 75,000 on Tuesday, Reuters¡¯ tally showed.
Health experts say greater social mixing and indoor gatherings during the holiday season, combined with colder weather, could accelerate the surge, threatening to overwhelm already strained healthcare systems.
It is not just in the US, the second wave of COVID-19 is wreaking havoc. In Europe too the situation is only getting worse.
France which is under a partial lockdown has become the fourth worst affected country in the world after the US, Brazil and India.
France is unlikely to lift a partial coronavirus lockdown any time soon, a government spokesman said on Wednesday, even if some restrictions may be relaxed before Christmas.
President Emmanuel Macron and top ministers discussed the crisis, including whether to ease some restrictions from December 1 "if conditions allow it", spokesman Gabriel Attal said.
Declines in new infections since a second nationwide lockdown began on October 30 have sparked calls from business groups to let shops open as soon as November 27 for the "Black Friday" sales that kick off the holiday shopping season.
