Medical workers walk outside a special coronavirus area at a hospital in New York on May 26, 2020. — AFP/VNA Photo

WASHINGTON — The coronavirus has infected nearly two million people overall in the United States, and in the past 24 hours has caused 1,082 fatalities in the country, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday.

The world's leading economic power is by far the country most affected by the pandemic, both in terms of the number of reported deaths - 112,833 - and the number of diagnosed cases, which stood at 1,999,313 at 8:30 pm Wednesday.

The US continues to record around 20,000 new cases of COVID-19 every day, and is struggling to come down from that plateau as the level of infections wax and wane in different parts of the country.

In Texas and North Carolina, for example, there are currently more COVID-19 patients hospitalised than there were a month ago.

With half a million tests performed per day, the country is the world champion in screening per capita.

According to an average of 11 epidemiological models conducted by researchers at the University of Massachusetts, the number of COVID-19 deaths in the US is expected to approach 130,000 by July 4, Independence Day. — AFP