US sets new global record with 1,480 virus deaths in 24 hrs

Washington: The United States recorded nearly 1,500 deaths from COVID-19 between Thursday and Friday, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, the worst 24-hour death toll globally since the pandemic began.

With 1,480 deaths counted between 8:30 pm (0030 GMT) Thursday and the same time Friday, according to the university's continuously updated figures, the total number of people who have died since the start of the pandemic in the United States is now 7,406.

Two of the main US coronavirus hot spots on Friday reported their biggest jumps yet in COVID-19 deaths, with the number of fatalities so far in New York state alone comparable to the loss of life in the United States in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The figures showed that a wave of lethal coronavirus infections expected to overwhelm hospitals, even in relatively affluent, urban areas like New York, has begun to crash down on the United States.