Coronavirus tally: Global cases of COVID-19 top 236.5 million and White House to buy $1 billion of rapid at-home tests – MarketWatch

The global tally for the coronavirus-borne illness climbed above 236.5 million on Thursday, while the death toll rose above 4.82 million, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. continues to lead the world with a total of 44 million cases and 707,788 deaths, after passing 700,000 last Friday. The U.S. is now averaging more than 1,800 deaths a day, according to a New York Times tracker, , a slight improvement over recent trends and new cases and hospitalizations are declining. The White House announced that it will buy $1 billion worth of rapid, at-home tests to address a shortage. The move is expected to quadruple the number of tests available to people living in the U.S. by December, Jeff Zients, White house COVID-19 response coordinator said, according to the Washington Post. The White House is expecting to increase the number of at-home tests to 200 million a month by December.India is second by cases after the U.S. at 33.9 million and has suffered 449,856 deaths. Brazil has second highest death toll at 599,359 and 21.5 million cases. In Europe, Russia has most fatalities at 209,752 followed by the U.K. at 137,694.

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Coronavirus tally: Global cases of COVID-19 top 236.5 million and White House to buy $1 billion of rapid at-home tests - MarketWatch