Coronavirus deaths in US top 100,000

(FASTNEWS | COLOMBO) –  The US has passed 100,000 deaths in the coronavirus outbreak in less than four months.

It has seen more fatalities than any other country, while its 1.69 million confirmed infections account for about 30% of the worldwide total.

The first US infection was reported in Washington state on 21 January.

Globally there have been 5.6 million people recorded as infected and 354,983 deaths since the virus emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.

The US death toll stands at 100,276, according to Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, which has been tracking the pandemic.

But on a per capita basis the US ranks ninth in its mortality rate behind the likes of Belgium, the United Kingdom, France and Ireland, according to the university.

BBC North America editor Jon Sopel says it is almost the same as the number of American servicemen and women killed in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan over 44 years of fighting. (BBC)