US records 2,30,000 new Covid cases in 24 hrs

Washington: For the third day in a row, the United States on Saturday notched a record number of Covid-19 cases in a span of 24 hours, reaching nearly 2,30,000 new infections, a tally by Johns Hopkins University showed on Sunday.

The country reported 2,527 coronavirus-related deaths, according to real-time data provided by the Baltimore-based university at 8:30 pm (0130 GMT Saturday).

The United States -- the country with the most coronavirus cases and deaths in the world -- has seen a dramatic resurgence in its epidemic in recent weeks.

US health officials warned of a surge after millions of Americans travelled to celebrate last week's Thanksgiving holiday despite pleas from authorities to stay home. For two weeks, the US has regularly topped 2,000 deaths per day, as it had in the spring at the height of the first wave of the country's outbreak.

The number of people hospitalised with the virus is also steadily increasing, especially in the most populous states of California, Florida, New York and Texas.

The United States has recorded over 14.6 million cases of coronavirus and more than 281,000 related fatalities since the start of the outbreak.