Coronavirus Cases In US Near 10 Lakh As Death Toll Rises Upto 54,000; New York Remains Worst-Hit State

More than 9 lakh people were infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as of Saturday evening (25 April) in the United States (US), with the death toll exceeding 52,000, while a new study indicated that the virus was likely to be spreading in multiple US cities "far earlier" than Americans knew.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the country reached 9,60,651 and a total of 54,256 deaths related to the disease were recorded, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University, Xinhua news agency reported.

New York remains the hardest-hit state, with 288,313 cases and 21,411 deaths. New Jersey follows, with 102,196 cases and 5,683 deaths. Other states with over 40,000 cases include Massachusetts, California and Pennsylvania.

Worldwide, more than 2 lakh people died of the disease as of Saturday, among over 28 lakh cases, showed the CSSE data.

The United States suffered the most fatalities. Italy followed with 26,384 deaths. Spain reported 22,902 deaths, France and Britain also reported over 20,000 deaths.

The US states and federal government are trying very hard to balance the public health risk posed by the virus with the severe cost of month-odd shutting down of the country's economy.

The Congressional Budget Office said Friday that the unemployment rate around the country, which was near a 50-year low before the coronavirus struck, will surge to 16 per cent by September as the economy withers under the impact of the outbreak.

More than 2.6 crore Americans have applied for unemployment benefits since March.

(With inputs from IANS)