Coronavirus latest: US daily infections reach record high

The United States suffered a new high in COVID-19 daily infections for the second day in a row. The current dominant strain of COVID-19 is regarded as easier to transmit than the original. Follow DW for the latest.

A new study suggests that the current dominant strain of COVID-19 is more infectious than the original

At over 53,000, daily infections reach a new high for the second day in a row in the United States

Over 10.9 million cases and over 520,000 deaths have been confirmed worldwide

All updates in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC/GMT)

01:20 The United States recorded more than 53,000 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, a tally by Johns Hopkins University showed. The number marked a new one-day record as infections increase across the country, the hardest-hit in the world.

There were 53,069 more cases, bringing the total number of cases since the pandemic reached the US to 2,735,339.

A further 649 people died of the disease, bringing the US total death toll to 128,677.

Thursday was the second consecutive day of a record-high case count in the United States.

00:05 The genetic variation of COVID-19 currently dominant around the globe is infecting human cells more readily than the original variation that emerged in China, according to a new study.

Results of lab-based research published in the journal Cell have suggested that the current mutation is more transmissible between people than the previous iteration of the virus, though it remains to be proven.

"I think the data is showing that there is a single mutation that actually makes the virus be able to replicate better, and maybe have high viral loads," said US top infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci in response to the study, in which he was not involved, speaking with Journal of the American Medical Association.

Read more: How lab animals have fared in the coronavirus crisis

Researchers from a team of universities found that the current variant of the virus, D614G, makes a small but significant change in the protein that protrudes from the surface of the virus, which it uses to invade and infect human cells.

Initial results shared in April were criticized for not proving the mutation itself was responsible for its domination. Other factors or chance could have played a role, critics said.

The team then carried out additional experiments, analyzing data of 999 British patients hospitalized with COVID-19. They observed that those with the variant had more viral particles in them, but it had no effect on the severity of their disease.

Laboratory experiments have meanwhile shown that the variant is three to six times more capable of infecting human cells.

00:00Catch up on yesterday's coronavirus news here.

https:// www. dw. com/ en/ coronavirus-latest-usunemployment- falls- to- 111amid-jobs-surge/a-54020514

In reporting on the coronavirus pandemic, unless otherwise speci ed, DW uses gures provided by the Johns Hopkins University ( JHU) Coronavirus Resource Center in the United States. JHU updates gures in real-time, collating data from world health organizations, state and national governments, and other public o cial sources, all of whom have their own systems for compiling information.

Germany's national statistics are compiled by its public health agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). These gures depend on data transmission from state and local levels and are updated around once a day, which can lead to deviation from JHU.

kp/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)