WORLD – US hits 20 million mark in coronavirus cases

BALTIMORE, United States (AP) — The number of confirmed US coronavirus cases has surpassed 20 million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

That’s nearly twice as many as the number two country, India, and nearly one-quarter of the more than 83 million cases globally.

The US continued to surpass other countries in COVID-19 cases as it reached 20 million at the start of the new year, according to data kept by Johns Hopkins University.

COVID-19 deaths have also increased in the country, now totalling more than 346,000.

India and Brazil trail behind the US in coronavirus cases at over 10 million and 7 million, respectively.

The increase comes as officials race to vaccinate millions of Americans but have come off to a slower and messier start.

President-elect Joe Biden criticized the Trump administration Tuesday for the pace of distributing COVID-19 vaccines and vowed to ramp up the current speed of vaccinations. However, Biden acknowledged that it “will still take months to have the majority of Americans vaccinated.”

Globally, more than 83 million cases have been confirmed.