The US now has the highest number of confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), surpassing China with 85,653 cases as of Thursday, according to the tally of Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.
China was the epicenter, but the country reported no new cases earlier this month.
World Health Organization spokeswoman Margaret Harris said on Tuesday the U.S. has “the potential” to become the new epicenter, reported Reuters.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump attributed the country’s surge in confirmed cases to the U.S. “testing tremendous numbers of people.”
Italy remains on top of the global death toll with 8,215 deaths while the number of fatalities in the US stand at 1,288.
The state of New York alone accounts for 39,000 confirmed cases followed by its neighboring state New Jersey, which logged 6,876 confirmed cases and California with 4,019 confirmed cases.
Deborah Birx, response coordinator for the White House’s coronavirus task force, said Thursday that new hotspots are emerging in Detroit and Chicago, NPR reported.
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