US daily virus cases top 71,000 first time since July

The US recorded more than 71,000 coronavirus cases on Thursday, marking the nation's single highest daily case count since late July, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Virus-related deaths also hit 856 on Thursday, the data showed.

The country recorded the all-time highest daily cases on July 16 with more than 77,300 infections and 943 deaths. The tally last surpassed the 71,000 mark on July 29, with nearly 1,500 daily fatalities.

While the majority of US states suffer a surge of the pandemic the Covid Tracking Project said over 41,000 people were hospitalized across the country -- the highest level since late August.

The US is the worst-hit country by the virus with having more than 8.4 million cases and more than 223,000 deaths. While about 3.3 million people recovered from the diseases, nearly 129 million tests were conducted so far.

California, Texas and Florida continue to be the worst affected states. They have recorded 894,034, 871,453 and 768,091 confirmed cases, respectively, while their death count ranges between 16,200-17,200.