US records over 900 Covid-19 deaths in 24 hours

(AFP) – The United States has recorded another 941 Covid-19 coronavirus-related fatalities in the last 24 hours, bringing the country’s death toll so far to 113,774, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

The world’s top economy is the most affected by the pandemic in absolute terms, with both the highest number of deaths and the largest number of infections – 2,021,990 at 8.30pm on Thursday (0030 GMT Friday), a tracker maintained by the Baltimore-based university showed.

The US continues to register around 20,000 new cases of coronavirus each day, and is struggling to come down from that plateau as infection rates wax and wane around the country.

In some more sparsely populated rural regions, the number of hospitalisations is climbing compared to a month ago.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday there will be no more shutdowns, even as the outbreak flares in some states.

“We can’t shut down the economy. I think we’ve learned that if you shut down the economy, you’re going to create more damage,” Mnuchin said in an interview on CNBC.