California overtakes NY as US Covid epicentre
2.6k new cases per hour in US; daily records in Brazil, HK, Japan
LOSANGELES/BRASILIA: With nearly 415,000 coronavirus cases, California has surpassed New York as the US state with the most number of infections.
Covid-19 killed 115 people on Tuesday alone in California, taking the total death toll past 7,870 . Total cases is about 4,700 higher than in New York, the initial US epicentre of the pandemic, which still has the worst fatalities at 25,068. New York has brought down new deaths and cases over the past two months.
California governor Gavin Newsom attributed the spike to the reopening of the economy. “It’s not surprising... People continue to mix and come in close contact with others that may have contracted this disease.”
Covid-19 cases in the US are nearing four million, with at least 2,600 new infections being reported every hour on average, the highest rate in the world, according to a Reuters tally.
It took the country 98 days to reach a million cases, another 43 days to reach two million and then 27 days to reach three million. It has taken 16 days to reach four million, making it 43 new cases per minute. Florida posted a record 173 new deaths, pushing the cumulative total to 5,518.
US President Donald Trump blamed anti-racism protesters, travellers from Mexico and young bar-goers for the latest spike in Covid-19 infections.
In Asia, record daily cases were reported in Tokyo and Hong
Kong , at 366 and 111, respectively. With total cases inching towards 400,000, South Africa accounted for half of Africa’s infections, also adding a new daily high of 572 deaths. Brazil, too, reported a daily record of 67,860 new cases.
As aviation is hit hard by the pandemic, Emirates has said it will cover the costs of passengers’ Covid-related medical expenses in an effort to encourage more travellers to fly on the airline.