US coronavirus infections soar to near record in 24 hours

[WASHINGTON] The number of new coronavirus infections in the United States is approaching record daily levels, with more than 35,900 cases recorded in the past 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

That brings the number of cases in the country to nearly 2.4 million, the tracker from the Baltimore-based university showed at 8.30pm local time Wednesday (0030 GMT Thursday), after several days in which the number of cases has surged.

Nearly half of the 50 US states have seen an increase in infections over the past two weeks, with some - such as Texas and Florida - posting daily records.

The Hopkins tracker also showed Wednesday that 756 people had died of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.

That brings the death toll to 121,932 in the world's leading economic power, by far the most bereaved by the pandemic on the planet.

AFP