(Reuters) – US coronavirus cases were approaching 4 million on Thursday, with more than 2,600 new cases every hour on average, the highest rate in the world, according to a Reuters count.
FILE PHOTO: Emergency medical technicians clean their supplies outside Memorial West Hospital, where patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are treated, in Pembroke Pines, Florida, USA, July 13, 2020. REUTERS / Maria Alejandra Cardona
Infections in the United States have accelerated rapidly since the first case was detected on January 21. The country took 98 days to reach 1 million cases. It took another 43 days to reach 2 million and then 27 days to reach 3 million. It has only taken 16 days to reach 4 million at a rate of 43 new cases per minute.
(Graphic: Tracking the new coronavirus in the US: here)
The federal government, state governors, and city leaders have often clashed over the best way to tackle the pandemic, leading to a confusing patchwork of rules on issues like wearing masks in public and when companies can open.
President Donald Trump recently changed his tone. He had previously been reluctant to wear a mask, but this week he encouraged Americans to wear masks and recently appeared in public for the first time with a mask on his face.
Of the 20 countries with the largest outbreak, the United States ranks second for cases per capita, with 120 infections per 10,000 people, second only to Chile.
With more than 143,000 deaths, or 4.4 deaths per 10,000 people, the United States ranks sixth worldwide for the highest deaths per capita. It is surpassed by the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Chile and France.
Globally, the rate of new infections shows no signs of slowing down, with the disease accelerating faster in the United States and South America, according to Reuters counts, according to official reports.
Brazil recorded a new daily record for confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Latin America to more than 4 million.
Brazil has the second largest outbreak in the world, with more than 2.2 million people with positive results and almost 83,000 deaths.
India, the only other country with more than 1 million cases, reported nearly 40,000 new cases on Wednesday.
(Chart: where coronavirus cases are on the rise in the United States: here)
Written by Lisa Shumaker, Edited by Rosalba O’Brien
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