The United States has recorded 382 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing its death toll to 115,729, according to a tally Sunday by Johns Hopkins University.
This was the lowest 24-hour toll in the US since it peaked in mid-April. It has been averaging 800 or so a day recently.
The world’s top economy is by far the hardest-hit country in the pandemic, with both the highest number of deaths and the largest number of infections — 2,093,335 at 8:30 pm Sunday (0030 GMT Monday), a tracker maintained by the Baltimore-based university showed.
But the country continues to register around 20,000 new cases of coronavirus each day and is struggling to come down from that plateau as infection rates fluctuate around the country.
President Donald Trump’s administration allows that there are new flare-ups in coronavirus caseloads in some states but insists there will be no shutdown of the economy if a second full-blown wave arises.
On the other hand, Britain also reported the third-highest number of coronavirus deaths after the United States and Brazil, something critics of the government say reflects its response to the crisis.
Johnson’s Conservative Party government, which says it has followed scientific advice in its handling of the pandemic, faces the difficult balancing act of reviving the economy without allowing a second wave of cases.
“We’ll work closely with the scientists at all times and make the right decision on the basis of safety, health and stopping the disease,” Johnson said.
The scale of Britain’s slump was laid bare by data last week which showed output shrank by 25% over March and April.
As COVID-19 in the population fell to 1 in 1,600 or lower, the chances of catching the disease from an encounter of less than two metres had diminished, Johnson added.
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