Early June was the last time the United States recorded over 1,000 deaths a day for four days in a row, resulting from fallout from infections in April. In the most recent outbreak, cases began rising in early June and deaths increased about six weeks later.
So far in July, 19 U.S. states have broken one-day records for increases in COVID-19 deaths, according to a Reuters tally. Texas lost a record 206 lives on Wednesday, Florida had a record increase of 173 deaths on Thursday and California's record was 159 on Wednesday.
U.S. deaths rose by at least 1,019 to a total of 145,352 on Friday compared with a rise of 1,140 on Thursday, 1,135 on Wednesday and 1,141 on Tuesday. Total cases across the United States rose by at least 68,800 on Friday to over 4 million total.
Even though deaths are rising in the United States for a second week in a row, they remain well below levels seen in April, when 2,000 people a day on average died from the virus. The outbreak in March and April ravaged many nursing homes while infections this summer have been in younger, healthier individuals. Hospitals have also found better treatments, such as putting patients on their bellies and using the antiviral drug Remdesivir.
Among the 20 countries with the largest outbreaks, the United States ranks seventh highest globally for deaths per capita, according to a Reuters analysis.