U.S. SURPASSES 25 MILLION COVID-19 CASES

The u.s. passed another milestone in the yearlong struggle against COVID-19, as total infections exceeded 25 million, or about eight per cent of the population, according to data reported Sunday by Johns Hopkins university.

On Saturday, the nation added 172,878 cases, 0.7 per cent less than the average of the preceding seven days, figures compiled by Johns Hopkins and Bloomberg show. While daily case counts have declined after spiking to records of almost 300,000 after the Christmas holiday, the weekly average of about 175,000 new infections every day remains high.

The u.s. death toll surpassed 417,000 as another 3,390 people died of COVID-19 nationwide. It was the lowest increase on a Saturday in three weeks.

President Joe Biden, who has detailed the first national strategy against COVID-19, warned that deaths may reach 600,000 before vaccines begin to create immunity on a large scale.