Coronavirus latest: US coronavirus cases pass 4 million in rapid acceleration
- It took country 98 days to reach 1 million infections, but just 16 days to go from 3 million to 4 million
- Average number of new US cases now rising by more than 2,600 every hour, the highest rate in the world
The United States is not at all close to winning the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the country is not even midway through it, Dr Anthony Fauci has warned.
“We are certainly not at the end of the game. I’m not even sure we’re halfway through,” said the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said. “Certainly we are not winning the game right now. We are not leading it.”
Fauci’s comments came as the US logged more than 4 million coronavirus cases on Thursday, with some 143,850 deaths, making it the worst-hit country. Worldwide, about 15.3 million confirmed cases have been reported, with more than 600,000 deaths.
The coronavirus pathogen is a health expert’s “worst nightmare”, Fauci told Betsy McKay of the Wall Street Journal, who was hosting a webinar.
“It’s the perfect storm,” Fauci said. “We often talk about outbreaks and pandemics, be they influenza or other pathogens that have to have a few characteristics that make them particularly formidable. Well, this particular virus has that.”
It took the US 98 days to reach 1 million cases, but just 16 days to go from 3 million to 4 million. The average number of new US cases is now rising by more than 2,600 every hour, the highest rate in the world.
President Donald Trump on Thursday acknowledged that some schools may need to delay their reopening in the autumn as the coronavirus continues to surge.