The U. S. has registered a record number of new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, a tally compiled by the Johns Hopkins University showed on Friday.
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Some 77,300 new infections were recorded during that period, the highest number since the beginning of the pandemic.
Previously, the record had been 67,800 new infections in a single day on July 10.
In total, more 3.5 million people have been infected with Sars-CoV-2 in the U.S. and 138,000 have died as a result of the virus, which causes the potentially deadly respiratory illness COVID-19.
Since the easing of restrictive policies in June, the number of infections in the U.S. has soared, especially in the south and south west of the country.
Several states have slowed or halted reopening the economy and easing the rules.