The number of COVID-19 cases in the US topped 7 million on Thursday — more than 20 percent of the world’s total — as Midwest states reported spikes in transmission rates this month, a Reuters tally showed.
The latest milestone comes just days after the nation surpassed 200,000 COVID-19 deaths, the world’s highest death toll from the virus.
Each day, more than 700 people die in the US from COVID-19.
Photo: Reuters
California leads the country with more than 800,000 total cases, followed by Texas, Florida and New York.
Except for Ohio, all of the Midwest states reported more cases in the past four weeks than in the previous four weeks.
The increase was led by South Dakota and North Dakota. South Dakota had the biggest percentage increase at 166 percent with 8,129 new cases, while North Dakota’s new cases doubled to 8,752, up from 4,243 during the same period last month.
Many cases in those two states have been linked to the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, that annually attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors.
Positive cases this month rose in half of the 50 US states, a Reuters analysis showed, with 10 states having reported this month a record one-day increase in cases.
New cases last week rose after falling for eight consecutive weeks. Health experts believe this spike was due to reopening schools and universities, as well as parties over the Labor Day holiday.
A study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Indiana University, the University of Washington and Davidson College said that the reopening of university campuses for in-person instruction last month could be associated with more than 3,000 additional cases of COVID-19 per day in the US in recent weeks.
US confirmed cases are the highest in the world, followed by India with 5.7 million cases and Brazil with 4.6 million.
The US is currently averaging 40,000 new infections per day.
US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci has said that he would like to see the number fall below 10,000 per day before flu season starts next month.
US President Donald Trump early this month said that the US is “rounding the corner,” but Fauci said that the statistics are disturbing.
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