Virus kills record 4,470 in the US in single day

LONDON/BEIJING: The US has endured its worst day of the coronavirus pandemic, with three Americans dying every minute, while China took decisive steps on Wednesday to stamp out a fresh outbreak.

The US logged a record 4,470 deaths in 24 hours on Tuesday, as it reeled from a winter surge in infections that has overwhelmed hospitals and clinics in many areas even as vaccines are rolled out. Keeping in mind the impact of the new mutations of the coronavirus, authorities on Tuesday announced that starting on January 26, all travellers entering the US by air will need a negative Covid- 19 test before departure.

China has recorded the biggest daily jump in cases in more than five months, with 115 new infections reported for Tuesday in the mainland compared with 55 reported a day earlier. This was the highest daily increase since July 30.

More than 28 million residents in four cities in the provinces of Hebei and Heilongjiang have been put under home quarantine with intercity travel suspended and intracity movements restricted.

The development came a day before an investigative mission from the World Health Organization ( WHO) is scheduled to directly fly to Wuhan from Singapore. The team will probe the origins of the coronavirus.

Japan expanded a coronavirus state of emergency for seven more prefectures on Wednesday, affecting more than half the population amid a surge in infections across the country.

In the UK, a record number of personnel from the armed forces were deployed to help deal with the “most dangerous situation” in living memory facing hospitals, as PM Boris Johnson urged Britons not to flout curbs. This is the largest peacetime resilience operation ever undertaken by the UK’S armed forces. Britain reported a record 1,564 Covid deaths in the last 24 hours.