American toll now almost double number of deaths in next highest country Italy

A man and his dog, stand outside a dress shop along 5th Avenue in New York, on Sunday, April 19, 2020. Image Credit: AP

Washington: The number of coronavirus deaths in the United States rose by almost 2,000 in the past 24 hours to reach 40,661 on Sunday, a tally from Johns Hopkins University showed.

The rise in deaths, by 1,997, is marginally above the 1,891 which Johns Hopkins data showed a day earlier for the previous 24-hour period to Saturday.

Sunday's figure came on the same day that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the epidemic in his hardest-hit state is "past the high point."

The 24-hour tally in the United States had exceeded 2,500 on Wednesday, Johns Hopkins data showed.

Deaths from COVID-19 in the United States are by far the highest of any country, as is the total number of cases which on Sunday reached 759,086, according to Johns Hopkins.

It took the United States 38 days after recording its first fatality on February 29 to reach 10,000 deaths on April 6, but only five more days to reach 20,000 dead. The United States’ toll increased to 40,000 from 30,000 in four days after including untested but probable COVID-19 deaths reported by New York City.

The United States has by far the world’s largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 750,000 infections — a number that has doubled in 13 days. New cases on Saturday rose by nearly 29,000, the lowest increase in three days.

More than 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in the past month as closures of businesses and schools and severe travel restrictions have hammered the economy.

Governors in US states hardest hit by the coronavirus sparred with President Donald Trump over his claims they have enough tests and should quickly reopen their economies as more protests are planned over the extension of stay-at-home orders.

The region of Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C. is still seeing increasing cases. New Jersey reported on Sunday that its new cases rose by nearly 3,900, the most in more than two weeks. Boston and Chicago are also emerging hot spots with recent surges in cases and deaths.