U.S. COVID-19 deaths exceed 20,000

A total of 20,506 deaths from COVID-19 has been reported in the United States, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University as of 8:30 pm Saturday (0030 GMT Sunday).

A total of 527,111 confirmed cases have been reported in the country, the most of any country in the number of confirmed infections, according to the Baltimore-based school's count.

Over the past 24 hours, 1,920 deaths related to the novel coronavirus were recorded and the number of deaths was lower than the previous day's record toll of 2,108.

New York state has recorded 8,627 deaths, the most in the country, followed by New Jersey and Michigan with 2,183 and 1,276, respectively. A total of 29,507 patients in the country have recovered, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at the university.

However, the official figure is believed to be an undercount as those who died at home or on the street before they got tested for the coronavirus were left out, local officials and media said.

The surge of deaths has overwhelmed local funeral homes while making city agencies scramble to find more burial sites.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)