The number of deaths recorded in the United States (U.S.) in one day with a confirmed coronavirus infection has reached a new high as the authorities reported 4,942 deaths in one day.
This is according to data released by Johns Hopkins University (JHU) on Friday in Washington.
The previous high of 4,466 deaths was recorded on January 12.
According to the JHU, the number of new infections was 119,931 on Thursday, with the previous high of 300,282 recorded on January 2.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 455,000 people have already died in the U.S. after being infected with the coronavirus.
More than 100,000 deaths have occurred since the beginning of this year alone.
According to the university, there are now more than 26.6 million confirmed infections in the U.S., a country of about 330 million people.
The Johns Hopkins website is updated regularly and, therefore, shows a higher level than the official figures of the U.S. health authority the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the World Health Organisation (WHO).
In some cases, the figures – including those for new infections within 24 hours, but also those for deaths – are updated retrospectively.
Meanwhile, nearly 28 million people in the U.S. have received the first vaccination, and about 6.9 million citizens have already received both doses, according to CDC data.
However, many experts warn that the spread of new and more contagious coronavirus mutations could again slow the recent progress in containing the pandemic.
Earlier, U.S. company Johnson and Johnson asked the CDC for emergency use authorisation of its single-shot vaccine against COVID-19, which could be pivotal in speeding up the vaccination campaign.
