The United States has become the first country to record more than 2,000 coronavirus deaths in one day, with 2,108 fatalities in the past 24 hours.
The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the US surged past 500,000 this morning, according to the latest tally by Johns Hopkins University.The US has now recorded 18,586 deaths and is closing in on the toll of 18,849 dead in Italy, which has seen the most fatalities so far in the global pandemic.
America is also approaching half a million confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 496,535 as of 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Saturday), an increase of 35,098 in the past 24 hours.President Donald Trump on Friday said that his decision on when to reopen the US economy, shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be the toughest he has ever taken."I'm going to have to make a decision and I only hope to God that it's the right decision. But I would say without question, it's the biggest decision I've ever had to make," Trump told a press conference.