Covid-19 case tally crosses 3 million mark in USA

The US coronavirus outbreak has crossed a grim milestone of over 3.0 million confirmed cases.

More states reported record numbers of new infections, and Florida faced an impending shortage of intensive care unit hospital beds.

California, Hawaii, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma and Texas on Tuesday shattered their previous daily record highs for new cases.

The biggest jumps occurred in Texas and California, the two largest US states, with more than 10,000 each. About 24 states have reported disturbingly high infection rates as a percentage of diagnostic tests conducted over the past week.

In Texas alone, the number of hospitalised patients more than doubled in just two weeks.

The trend has driven many more Americans to seek out COVID-19 screenings. The US Department of Health and Human Services said on Tuesday it was adding short-term “surge” testing sites in three metropolitan areas in Florida, Louisiana and Texas.

In Houston, a line of more than 200 cars snaked around the United Memorial Medical Center as people waited hours in sweltering heat to get tested. Some had arrived the night before to secure a place in line at the drive-through site.

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