(Reuters) – Three U.S. states reported record one-day increases in new COVID-19 cases on Friday as the nation surpassed the grim milestone of over 7 million total infections, according to a Reuters tally.
Minnesota reported 1,177 new coronavirus cases and Oregon reported 449 new cases, breaking its previous record set in July.
Utah reported 1,411 new cases, a record increase for the second day in a row. Montana and South Dakota also set one-day records for new cases on Thursday.
COVID-19 infections in the United States are trending upwards and the average number of cases in the last seven days is up 10% from the prior week, according to a Reuters analysis. On average, the nation is reporting 44,000 new cases a day and about 700 deaths.
Cases are also increasing rapidly in Wisconsin, where the governor on Tuesday declared a new public health emergency and extended a face mask mandate into November.
The United States recently surpassed 200,000 lives lost from the coronavirus, the highest death toll in the world.
(Reporting by Lisa Shumaker in Chicago; Editing by Chris Reese and Alistair Bell)
