The number of global deaths attributed to Covid-19 rose by 9,624 yesterday – with the US accounting for nearly half of those cases. America’s death toll jumped by 4,591 in a single day. The sharp rise was caused by a change in the way states are reporting deaths to the federal authorities. New York State identified and reported 3,778 extra deaths of people who probably had Covid-19 but died before being tested. Other states are likely to follow suit.
Many other countries around the world are only counting people who had tested positive for Coronavirus when they died. America has reported a total of 32,916 deaths since the start of the outbreak – nearly a quarter of the world’s total.