US Covid death toll tops 700,000: Johns Hopkins University

Marking another grim milestone, the overall number of deaths in the US caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has topped the 700,000 mark on Saturday, according to the latest update by the Johns Hopkins University.

As of the Saturday morning, the death toll stood at 700,258, which is also the highest in the world, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in the update.

California led the country with 69,225 fatalities, followed by Texas (65,529), New York (55,416) and Florida (55,299), the update showed.

States with more than 22,000 fatalities also include Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Jersey, Georgia, Michigan and Ohio.

The US remains the country worst hit by the pandemic with the world's highest caseload and death toll, accounting for more than 18 per cent of the infections and almost 15 per cent of the fatalities.

The current caseload stood at 43,617,650.

Covid deaths in the country hit half a million on Februaru 22, and topped 600,000 on June 15.

It took 113 days for the national death toll to climb from 500,000 to 600,000, and 108 days to soar from 600,000 to 700,000 - IANS