The number of Covid-19-related deaths in the United States passed the 50,000 threshold on Friday morning, following over 3,000 more deaths in a 24-hour period.
The grim mark means that the US death toll doubled in just 10 days, according to Reuters tally. It comes weeks ahead of plans in various states to begin rolling back lockdown orders.
The jump in deaths follows over 3,000 reported fatalities on Thursday, the third highest 24-hour toll in the country since the pandemic began. The total confirmed cases in the US is over 870,000.
Despite the staggering amount of cases and deaths, Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the White House coronavirus task force, promised in multiple interviews this week that he believes the crisis will “largely” be done by June.
States such as Texas and Tennessee have also announced plans to begin slowly easing the lockdown restrictions put in place to help stop the spread of the disease.
Businesses, including gyms, barbershops and nail salons, are already set to reopen in Georgia from Friday, based on orders given by Republican Governor Bill Kemp, a move that has been highly criticized, even by President Donald Trump, who has said he wants the country to begin reopening starting in May.
The US is now the nation worst-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, with New York State being the top hotspot. The country with the next highest death toll from the virus is Italy, which has suffered more than 25,000 deaths.
