WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The COVID-19 pandemic has so far infected over 4 million people in the United States and has taken lives of more than 144 thousand people.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, at least 4,070,480 coronavirus cases and 144,552 deaths have been recorded in the United States.
Medical experts, scientists, teachers, nurses and others have signed a letter to political leaders urging them to shut down the country to curb the spike in coronavirus cases.
'Right now we are on a path to lose more than 200,000 American lives by November 1st. Yet, in many states people can drink in bars, get a haircut, eat inside a restaurant, get a tattoo, get a massage, and do myriad other normal, pleasant, but non-essential activities,' the letter said.
The pandemic has now killed at least 634,744 people worldwide with more than 15.59 million people been diagnosed with COVID-19.
California, which is the new coronavirus hotspot in the United States, recorded its highest daily number of new infections and deaths on Thursday. California had overtaken New York as the worst-affected state in terms of total coronavirus infections earlier this week.
With 11,981 additional infections reporting in the last 24 hours, the total number of cases in the most populous U.S. state has reached 430,773. Number of deaths in the state has breached 8,200.
Meanwhile, the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday reported that the number of Americans infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus is anywhere from two times higher than the reported rate to 13 times higher, depending on the area.
The report is based on an analysis of antibody tests, which indicate whether a person has been infected, and it's the largest of its kind so far.
Meanwhile, White House coronavirus advisor Dr Anthony Fauci on Wednesday said that coronavirus will never be eradicated. But, world leaders and public health officials can work together to bring the virus down to 'low levels.'
'I think with a combination of good public health measures, a degree of global herd immunity and a good vaccine, which I do hope and feel cautiously optimistic that we will get, I think when we put all three of those together, we will get control of this-whether it's this year or next year. I'm not certain,' Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said.
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