The United States surpassed Italy and China on Thursday March 26 and has become the country in the world with the most recorded cases of infection with the new coronavirus. The United States, the country with the fastest growing pandemic, had at least 82,404 cases, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. Italy counted 80 539 cases on Thursday and China 81 285, according to an AFP count.

The number of deaths linked to Covid-19 remained much higher in Italy (8,165) than in the United States (1,178), where the majority of deaths are recorded in New York, which has become the center of the American epidemic.

Local risk assessment

Shortly before the new figures were released, US President Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday that he wanted to alleviate the "social distancing" recommendations based on a local risk assessment.

"Our extensive testing capabilities will quickly allow us to publish criteria (...) to classify counties based on the risks posed by the virus," the White House tenant wrote in a letter to all of the country's governors. "On the basis of these criteria based on data, we will propose to classify the counties in 'high risk', 'medium risk', 'low risk'".

In this letter with a very measured tone, which contrasts with his initial announcements on a "reopening" of the economy by Easter (which falls this year on April 12), the American president underlined that "the battle will be still long" .

With AFP

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