Washington (AFP)
The United States broke its record for the number of new Covid-19 infections recorded in 24 hours on Friday, with nearly 80,000 new cases, according to continuously updated data from Johns Hopkins University, which is the benchmark.
Between 8:30 p.m. Thursday and the same time Friday, 79,963 contaminations were identified, bringing the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to nearly 8.5 million in the country.
The United States had already flirted with the bar of 80,000 daily cases during the month of July, in particular because of new contaminations in southern states such as Texas or Florida, where the virus was then out of control.
Currently, the worst outbreaks are found in the North and Midwest, and some 35 out of 50 states are experiencing an increase in the number of cases.
The number of deaths over 24 hours has remained broadly stable since the beginning of the autumn, with between 700 and 800 deaths.
More than 223,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the country.
In absolute terms, the United States is the most bereaved country in the world by the pandemic, but not in relative terms.
The wearing of the mask, which, if it were generalized, could prevent an additional 130,000 deaths according to a study, has become a subject of political dispute.
President Donald Trump, widely criticized for his management of the health crisis and who continues to question the dangerousness of the virus, has promised the imminent arrival of a vaccine, which he wants free.
His Democratic opponent Joe Biden also pledged on Friday that the vaccine would be "free for everyone" if he won the November 3 presidential election.
© 2020 AFP