US breaks single-day record of coronavirus cases with swing states among hardest hit

Coronavirus is a key issue in the 2020 US election

Credit: DAVID MAXWELL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The United States broke its single-day record for new coronavirus infections on Thursday, reporting more than one new case every second, with swing states in the upcoming election some of the hardest hit by the surge. 

Among the hardest hit are hotly contested states such as Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that will play an important role in deciding whether Republican President Donald Trump gets a second term or Democratic challenger Joe Biden becomes president.

The US recorded 91,295 new cases in the 24 hours up to 8:30 pm Thursday (0030 GMT Friday), according to a real-time count by Johns Hopkins University.

The previous one-day record for US cases was 84,169 on Oct. 23. Globally, India holds the record for new cases in a single day at 97,894 infections on Sept. 17.

The US has tallied 8.94 million cases since the beginning of the pandemic, the most of any country in the world.

The White House coronavirus task force said the nation is heading in the wrong direction and warned of an "unrelenting" spread that requires aggressive action to curb new infections.

On Thursday, 12 states set one-day records for new cases: Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio and Oregon.

In addition to new infections, deaths and hospitalisations are also rising. For the third time in October, more than 1,000 people died of the virus within the same 24-hour period.

Over 229,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the United States, the world’s highest death toll.

The number of hospitalised Covid-19 patients has risen over 50 per cent in October to 46,000, the highest since mid-August.