Gulf Today Report
The United States, the worst-hit nation in world due to the pandemic, set a new all-time high for coronavirus cases confirmed in a single 24-hour period on Friday
The US has reported more than 100,000 new infections to surpass the record total of 91,000 posted a day earlier.
READ MORE
India records 48,268 new coronavirus cases
Slovakia begins mass virus testing in global first
The daily caseload of 100,233 is also a world record for the global pandemic, surpassing the 97,894 cases reported by India in a single day in September.
The coronavirus death toll in the US is expected to reach almost 400,000 by February 1, 2021, according to an updated forecast.
Thirteen states registered a record number of COVID-19 patients.
On Friday, 16 US states reported their highest one-day coronavirus infections while thirteen states were at record levels of hospitalised COVID-19 patients.
Released on Friday, the new forecast from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington revealed it was most likely that by mid-January, 2,250 Americans will be dying every day from Covid-19, which is about three times of the current rate at around 800 deaths daily, reports Xinhua news agency.
The death toll would reach 399,163 by February 1, according to the projection.
If mandates ease, the death toll would increase to over 513,000 by February 1.
If masks are universally adopted, which would mean about 95 per cent of people consistently wearing them, the IHME predicts about 337,600 deaths.
The IHME model also projects over 129,066 hospital beds will be needed by February 1 to take care of the infected.
As of Saturday morning, the overall number of global coronavirus cases in the US has increased to 9,036,678, while the death toll stood at 229,594, according to the Johns Hopkins University.