US clocks up another 63,000 virus cases in 24 hours

The United States recorded 63,262 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States recorded 63,262 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, according to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University on Tuesday.

The total number of cases recorded in the country since the start of the pandemic now exceeds 3.42 million, according to the Baltimore-based university.

COVID-19 also claimed 850 new victims in the United States in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 136,432, according to the institution s tracker at 8.30 pm Tuesday (0030 GMT Wednesday).

The world s wealthiest country has in recent weeks seen a surge in infections, mainly in its south and west, which have kept it by far the most affected nation.

In Florida, which was one of the first states to lift lockdown restrictions, for example, officials reported 132 deaths Tuesday -- a new daily record for the state -- while more than 9,000 new cases of the virus were detected there in the past 24 hours.

Faced with this trend, some states have reversed the opening of shops and services, such as California, and many of them have made masks compulsory in public places.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publicized Tuesday the results of a study that supports the widespread use of face masks to curb the epidemic.

American biotech company Moderna announced that it would enter the final phase of its clinical trials for a vaccine against COVID-19 on July 27, after the publication of promising preliminary results.

Meanwhile, the novel coronavirus has killed at least 574,278 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1900 GMT on Tuesday.

At least 13,178,180 cases have been registered in 196 countries and territories. Of these, at least 7,096,000 are now considered recovered.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.

Many countries are testing only symptomatic or the most serious cases.

The United States is the worst-hit country with 136,113 deaths from 3,394,033 cases. At least 1,031,939 people have been declared recovered.

After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 72,833 deaths from 1,884,967 cases, Britain with 44,968 deaths from 291,373 cases, Mexico with 35,491 deaths from 304,435 cases and Italy with 34,984 deaths from 243,344 cases.

The country with the highest death rate is Belgium with 84 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Britain with 66, Spain 61, Italy 58, and Sweden 55.

China -- excluding Hong Kong and Macau -- has to date declared 83,605 cases, including 4,634 deaths, and 78,674 recoveries.

Over the past 24 hours, there have been 4,217 more recorded deaths worldwide and 172,069 news cases logged.

Europe overall has 203,285 deaths from 2,863,908 cases, Latin America and the Caribbean 146,735 deaths from 3,424,235 infections, the United States and Canada 144,947 deaths from 3,502,410 cases, Asia 44,687 deaths from 1,819,605 cases, the Middle East 21,009 deaths from 944,111 cases, Africa 13,476 deaths from 612,088 cases and Oceania 139 deaths from 11,828 cases.

As a result of corrections by national authorities or late publication of data, the figures updated over the past 24 hours may not correspond exactly to the previous day s tallies.