US records over 200,000 Covid cases in 24 hrs

The United States on Tuesday far exceeded its previous daily record of new Covid-19 cases, adding 201,961 cases in 24 hours, according to the tally compiled by Johns Hopkins University, as pandemic continued to wreak havoc in Europe.  

The high number, partly due to data delayed over the weekend, took total cases in the US to 10,238,243, with a total of 239,588 deaths, as of 80130 GMT. In the 24-hour period, 1,535 deaths from Covid-19 were registered, a record in recent months as the US struggles to contain the spread of the pandemic.

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 1,275,113 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT yesterday.

At least 51,531,660 cases of coronavirus have been registered. Of these, at least 33,300,900 are now considered recovered.

On Tuesday, 10,601 new deaths and 662,214 new cases were recorded worldwide. Based on latest reports, the countries with the most new deaths were the United States with 1,535, followed by France with 1,220 and Mexico with 587.

The United States is the worst-affected country with 239,695 deaths from 10,258,090 cases. At least 3,961,873 people have been declared recovered.

After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 162,829 deaths from 5,700,044 cases, India with 127,571 deaths from 8,636,011 cases, Mexico with 95,842 deaths from 978,531 cases, and the United Kingdom with 49,770 deaths from 1,233,775 cases.

For a week now, the number of new infections in US has trended at over 100,000 each day. Coronavirus hospitalizations have also hit an all-time high, with more than 60,000 people hospitalized across the country, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

President Donald Trump, who has refused to concede defeat in the November 3 election, has repeatedly mocked people for wearing masks and claimed the virus would go away by itself.

But his victorious opponent Joe Biden has vowed to take a more proactive approach, telling the nation this week that face coverings are the single best way to get the virus under control.

In Europe German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday said the coronavirus crisis remains severe despite recently positive news such as the development of vaccine adding that the government would have to deal with the pandemic throughout the winter.

"As it was the case with the Spanish flu, we now also have to expect that the second wave will be more severe," Merkel said during a video conference with the government's council of economic advisers.

The second of pandemic in Europe has forced a host of countries, including France, Italy, England, Portugal, to impose restrictive measures from gathering ban to curfews and lockdowns disrupting life and prompting violent protests in some countries.

US pharma giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech announced Monday that their vaccine candidate was 90 percent effective in preventing Covid-19, marking a major breakthrough in the search for a vaccine.

Meanwhile, Russia yesterday said its Sputnik V vaccine is 92% effective at protecting people from Covid-19 according to interim trial results.

European stocks and US stock futures extended gains slightly after the announcement. World stocks rallied to record highs following Pfizer's encouraging vaccine update on Monday.