COVID-19 infected about 60 million in the US: Johns Hopkins University

Washington: The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States surpassed 60 million on Sunday and has killed at least 837,594 people in the US since January 2020, according to research from Johns Hopkins University.

The United States remains the nation most impacted by the pandemic, with the world's most cases and deaths, making up around 20 per cent of the global caseload. It also accounts for more than 15 per cent of global mortality.

As of 4:21 p.m. local time (2121 GMT), the US COVID-19 case count had risen to 60,062,077, with a total of 837,504 deaths, according to the statistics, reported Xinhua News Agency.

On November 9, 2020, the US COVID-19 caseload reached 10 million, crossed 20 million on January 1, 2021, surpassed 30 million on March 24. Furthermore, the caseload surpassed 40 million on September 6, and surpassed 50 million on December 13, reported the news agency.

Notably, the US on December 1, 2021, reported its first case of the 'Omicron' variant of the COVID-19. The case has been detected in the US state of California, Top Medical Adviser Anthony Fauci was quoted as saying by CNN.

The new variant is causing havoc in many nations and countries are resorting to stricter COVID protocols.