Coronavirus: US reports 88,973 new infections, another daily record
- Joe Biden, Barack Obama slam Donald Trump’s Covid response
- Two aides to US Vice-President Mike Pence test positive
The United States saw a record high number of new daily Covid-19 cases for the second day in a row, figures from Johns Hopkins University showed, as warnings grew over its spread.
The country reported 88,973 new infections between 8.30pm Friday and 8.30pm Saturday, the figures showed, substantially above the previous day’s 79,963.
A total of 8,578,415 cases have been reported in the United States with 224,906 deaths, the highest in the world.
The worst current outbreaks in the country are in the north and Midwest, and some 35 of the 50 states are seeing an increase in case numbers.
The number of deaths over 24 hours has remained broadly stable since the beginning of autumn, with between 700 and 800. On Saturday the US recorded 906 deaths, the Johns Hopkins tracker showed.
President Donald Trump has sought to beat back harsh criticism of his handling of the health crisis ahead of the November 3 election, particularly from his Democratic opponent Joe Biden.
On Saturday, Biden said: “Donald Trump said, and is still saying, we’re rounding the corner. It’s going away. We’re learning how to live with it.
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“We’re not learning how to live with it. You’re asking us to learn how to die with it and it’s wrong.”
The Biden campaign also deployed a key surrogate, former president Barack Obama, who slammed the Trump administration’s Covid-19 response.
“The idea that somehow this White House has done anything but completely screw this thing up is nonsense,” Obama told supporters at a drive-in rally in Miami, Florida.
Trump has sought to play down the virus despite having contracted and recovered from it himself, saying businesses should reopen so the country’s economy can recover.
“This election is a choice between a Trump super-recovery and a Biden depression,” he told supporters in North Carolina on Saturday.
That came as US-Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short tested positive for Covid-19, the latest in a list of figures connected to Trump’s administration to do so. Earlier Saturday, another of Pence’s closest political advisers, Marty Obst, also tested positive.
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Short began quarantine and was assisting in the contract tracing process, Pence spokesman Devin O’Malley said.
“Vice-President Pence and Mrs Pence both tested negative for Covid-19 today, and remain in good health,” he added.
Pence, who has been campaigning ahead of the November 3 election, would maintain his current schedule in consultation with White House doctors, said the spokesman.
03:05
Global coronavirus cases pass 40 million mark as infection rates rebound in the US and Europe
The outbreak has served as a punctuation mark on Trump’s handling of the pandemic, which polls show has been widely panned by voters.
Another Trump ally, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, was hospitalised with Covid-19 after helping the president prepare for his first debate with Biden last month. Since recovering, Christie has issued a public mea culpa, declaring he was wrong not to wear a mask at the White House and urging Americans to follow the guidance of public health authorities.
Across the planet, the pandemic has now claimed the lives of 1.1 million people and infected more than 42 million, with the World Health Organization warning the northern hemisphere was at an especially critical juncture.
Behind the United States as the second worst-affected country was Brazil, followed by India, Mexico and Britain.
Agence France-Presse and Bloomberg
