New Covid-19 cases in the United States reached a record daily high on Friday of 83 010 reported infections, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
The daily increase on Friday surpassed by more than 6 000 cases the tracking project’s previous record of 76 842 on 17 July.
Over the past week, the US has recorded 441 541 new infections, its largest seven-day increase since the end of July.
Deaths have also steadily increased over the past week, but are significantly below the peak of over 2 000 daily deaths reported in April.
The BBC reported that US Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned that while hospital admission numbers were growing, mortality rates were falling due to better patient care.
The Covid Tracking Project reported that nearly 8.5 million cases of coronavirus have been reported in America since the pandemic began.
America’s Midwest continues to be the hardest-hit region of the country, with cases soaring in states such as North Dakota, Montana and Wisconsin. In the south-west, cases reached an all-time high in Utah, where new mandatory mask rules have been introduced in 21 counties.
The BBC reported that America’s coronavirus outbreak had become a key policy battleground ahead of next month’s presidential election.
It said that, at a rally in Florida on Friday, President Donald Trump promised supporters that the pandemic would end soon, and accused presidential rival Joe Biden of overstating the crisis to scare people into voting for him. Biden, in turn, said Trump had given up on containing the virus.
The World Health Organization has warned that countries in the Northern Hemisphere are at a ‘critical juncture’.
Director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters: ‘The next few months are going to be very tough and some countries are on a dangerous track.’