This archive report was first published on 17 June 2020.
As of June 17, 2020, the United States has seen more people die from the coronavirus pandemic than died in World War I, with 740 new deaths reported in 24 hours.
According to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, the country's total Covid-19 deaths have reached 116,854, surpassing the number of American soldiers who died in the Vietnam War.
The new figure, counted at 8:30 pm on June 16, brought the country's total Covid-19 deaths up to 116,854, the tracker from the Baltimore-based university showed.
With 23,351 new cases in the same 24-hour period, the total US count has risen to 2,134,973, making it the hardest-hit country in the world.
Despite the rising death toll, the administration of President Donald Trump has insisted that there will be no shutdown of the economy if a second full-blown wave of the epidemic arises.
However, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that the US economy is unlikely to recover as long as 'significant uncertainty' remains over the course of the pandemic.
