The United States reached another grim milestone on Thursday as the number of coronavirus cases across the country exceeded 4 million, according to data compiled by NBC News.
There were 4,001,843 cases of COVID-19 at 11 am ET on Thursday, including nearly 81,000 cases recorded in the past 24 hours and more than 26,000 new cases reported Thursday alone, the NBC News count showed.
Altogether, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of 144,368 people in the US since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, according to data from NBC News. The South and Sun Belt is dealing with particularly alarming waves in the number of cases in recent weeks.
California, the largest state in terms of population, had recorded more than 422,000 cases as of Thursday morning. New York was not far from that account, with just over 415,000 cases.
The United States has the majority of coronavirus cases in the world, followed by Brazil (approximately 2.2 million) and India (1.2 million), according to statistics compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Meanwhile, three states set single-day records for COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, according to NBC News data: Texas (197), Florida (173) and Idaho (9).
Here is a look at other coronavirus developments making headlines on Thursday:
- Senate Republicans announced Wednesday night that they have “reached a fundamental agreement” with White House negotiators on how to move forward with a coronavirus relief bill. Julie Tsirkin, Leigh Ann Caldwell, and Sahil Kapur have more details here.
- About 1.4 million people applied for unemployment benefits for the first time last week, according to new Labor Department data, marking the first week in nearly four months that the number has increased. The resurgence in the number of coronavirus infections, including a record increase in California, has led many authorities to curtail the reopening of some businesses and restaurants, leaving more Americans out of work, reports Lucy Bayly of NBC News.
- Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Associated Press. He was placed on the disabled list on Thursday, meaning he will miss the start of the delayed Major League season.
