US Overtakes China Being the Country with Highest Number of Confirmed Covid-19 Cases

By Staff, Agencies

The US topped the list of nations with the most coronavirus cases, as the number of those infected within the country crept past 85,000 cases, data compiled by Johns Hopkins University revealed.

The grim milestone was achieved on Thursday, according to the university’s data, which puts the US at 85,840 cases of the virus, surpassing Italy at 80,589 and China at 81,782.

With 150 new fatalities reported so far on Thursday alone, Covid-19 has killed a total of 1,177 Americans to date. Thursday also saw cases worldwide soar beyond half a million, with more than 525,000 infections reported around the globe.

Though China led the world in infections from December, when the outbreak erupted in the city of Wuhan, till now, the sweeping quarantine measures appeared to pay off and daily tallies fell.

As restrictions grow tighter across American communities, China has gradually lifted its own, allowing 60 million residents in Hubei province – Covid-19’s first epicenter – to return to work and businesses to reopen this week.

An influx of coronavirus cases imported from abroad, however, prompted authorities to temporarily close China’s borders to foreigners on Thursday, also limiting all airlines to a single weekly flight in and out of the country starting this weekend.