The U.S. reached another grim milestone Thursday as the number of coronavirus cases across the country surpassed 4 million, according to data compiled by NBC News.
There were 4,001,843 cases of COVID-19 as of 11 a.m. ET Thursday — including nearly 81,000 cases logged in the previous 24 hours and over 26,000 new cases reported on Thursday alone, NBC News’ tally showed.
In all, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of 144,368 people in the U.S. since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, according to NBC News data. The South and Sun Belt are grappling with particularly alarming surges in the number of cases in recent weeks.
California, the largest state in terms of population, had recorded more than 422,000 cases as of Thursday morning. New York was not far behind that tally, with just over 415,000 cases.
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