US first nation to reach 10 million cases

NEW YORK: The United States yesterday became the first nation worldwide since the pandemic began to surpass 10 million coronavirus infections, according to a Reuters tally, as the third wave of the Covid19 virus surges across the nation.

The grim milestone came on the same day as global coronavirus cases exceeded 50 million.

The United States has reported about a million cases in the past 10 days, the highest rate of infections since the nation reported its first case in Washington state 293 days ago.

The country reported a record 131,420 Covid19 cases on Sunday and has reported more than 100,000 infections four times in the past seven days.

The latest reported sevenday average of 105,600 daily cases is more than the combined average for India and France, two of the worst affected countries in Asia and Europe.

More than 237,000 Americans have died of Covid19 since the illness caused by the coronavirus first emerged in China late last year.

The daily average of reported new deaths in the US accounts for one in every 11 deaths reported worldwide each day, according to a Reuters analysis.

The Midwest remains the hardesthit region based on the most cases per capita with North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska the top five worstaffected states.

Illinois emerged as the new epicentre in the Midwest, with the state reporting more than 60,000 Covid19 infections in the past seven days, the highest in the country. The state reported more than 12,454 new cases on Sunday, the highest singleday number so far.

Texas, which accounts for 10% of total US cases, is the hardesthit state and on Sunday became the first to surpass a million coronavirus cases.

The South region comprises nearly 43% of all the cases in the United States since the pandemic began, there being nearly 4.3 million cases in the region alone, followed by the Midwest, West and Northeast.

New York, with more than 33,000 fatalities, remains the state with the highest number of deaths and accounts for about 14% of total US deaths. — Reuters