COVID-19: US sees more than half a million cases in a week as Trump claims he ‘ended’ pandemic

More than half a million people in the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus in the last week, according to a tally by news agency Reuters.

More than 5,600 people died from the virus nationwide in the last seven days, with hospitalisations shooting up 13 percent.

Illinois has emerged as a fresh hot spot in recent weeks and it has reported more than 31,000 new cases in the last week.

The US has reported a record daily average of about 73,000 new cases over the past seven days, an increase of about 40 percent from the average two weeks earlier.

At least 983 new coronavirus deaths and 74,410 new cases were reported in the US on Oct. 27.

It took nearly three months for the first 500,000 coronavirus cases to be tallied in the United States.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration released a statement that included “ENDING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC,” written in bold, capital letters.

The White House included ending the coronavirus pandemic on a list of the Trump administration’s science and technology accomplishments.

“From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Administration has taken decisive actions to engage scientists and health professionals in academia, industry, and government to understand, treat, and defeat the disease,” it reads.