#Over 1,500 COVID-19 deaths reported in US, the most in a single day since May

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A coronavirus patient at a hospital in Hialeah, Florida.
REUTERS/Marco Bello

More than 1,500 coronavirus-related fatalities were reported in the US on Thursday —  marking the country’s worst single-day death rate since May.

The data emerged as Florida, California and North Carolina tallied record-breaking single-day fatality numbers, and as hospitalizations continued to rise nationwide, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

The Florida Department of Health said Wednesday that at least 216 people had died from the illness in the one-day period, setting a morbid new record for the state, according to CBS.

Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said 197 people had died of the virus the same day, the state’s highest fatality numbers in a 24-hour period, while 45 were reported in North Carolina.

But despite the grim death numbers for Florida and California, average weekly cases in the states have dropped over the last seven days, according to The COVID Tracking Project.

As of late Thursday, over 151,000 people in the US have died of coronavirus and over 4.4 million have been infected.