Mon | Apr 15, 2024

US average daily virus cases rising to 74,000

Published:Friday | October 30, 2020 | 10:55 AM
FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2020, file photo, Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of Health and Human Services, holds a swab manufactured by Puritan Medical Products as he talks about a new COVID-19 test during a event with President Donald Trump about coronavirus testing in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

WASHINGTON — The seven-day rolling average for daily new coronavirus cases in the U.S. rose over the past two weeks from 52,350 to more than 74,180.

That’s according to data through Wednesday from Johns Hopkins University, marking a return to levels not seen since the summer surge. The rolling average for daily new deaths rose over the past two weeks from 724 to 787.

Positive test rates have been rising in 45 states, according to the COVID Tracking Project. Fifteen states have positive test rates of 10% or higher, considered an indicator of widespread transmission.

Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Adm. Brett Giroir said earlier his week the proof of the uptick is the rising numbers of hospitalisations and deaths.

The U.S. leads the world with 8.9 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 228,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

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