US records over 2,400 COVID-19 deaths in a day

The United States on Wednesday recorded over 2,400 deaths due to the novel coronavirus, AFP quoted Johns Hopkins University’s tally. This is the highest daily toll in the country in six months.

At 8:30 pm (local time) (0030 GMT Thursday), the country had recorded a total of 262,080 Covid deaths, up by 2,439 in 24 hours.

On Wednesday, the US also witnessed over 200,000 new virus cases. 

The US is the worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic. It has recorded over 12.76 million COVID-19 cases.

The Thanksgiving holiday would begin on Thursday. Travel appeared to be down the night before Thanksgiving, when Americans usually criss-cross the country to be with family and friends for a feast on Thursday marking one of their most important national holidays.

In recent days, images on social media of crowded airports fueled concerns Americans were not taking the warnings seriously.

But one day before Thursday’s celebrations, officials and passengers in Los Angeles noted an eerie quiet compared to previous years.

Meanwhile, President-elect Joe Biden cited accelerating plans to deliver a vaccine as he appealed for his “weary” countrymen to dig deep.

“There is real hope, tangible hope. So hang on. Don’t let yourself surrender to the fatigue,” Biden said in a televised Thanksgiving address, AFP reported.

“You will get your lives back. Life is going to return to normal. That will happen. This will not last forever,” he added.