Coronavirus: US witnesses over 68,000 cases in past 24 hours

The United States recorded 68,212 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins University's real-time tally. 

The US remains world's worst-hit country in terms of coronavirus pandemic with 4,174,437 cases the Baltimore-based university said at 8:30 pm (0030 Sunday).

The country also witnessed 1,067 deaths due to the virus in the past 24 hours. This brings the country's death toll to 146,391.

Despite witnessing a decline in the rate of infections during the late springs, the US witnessed a surge in cases, particularly in southern and western states like California, Texas, Alabama and Florida. 

For the past 12 days, the number of new cases being reported each day has topped 60,000. The daily deaths have increased to 1,000 since the past four days. 

Scientists agree that an increase in death rates follows the spike in infections by three to four weeks.