US cases cross 7 million, deaths surpass 200,000

The death toll from the Covid 19 in the United States surpassed milestone of 200,000 while the infections crossed 7.0 million on Monday, report agencies.

More than 31.27 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 965,635 have died, according to Worldometers tally.

Infections have been reported in more than 213 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

The United States, on a weekly average, is now losing about 800 lives each day to the virus, according to a Reuters tally. That is down from a peak of 2,806 daily deaths recorded on April 15.

US President Donald Trump on Monday suggested Pfizer Inc could secure the first US approval of a COVID-19 vaccine in coming weeks, saying a contender by Johnson & Johnson could come later.

Asked which drugmaker could be approved, Trump told Fox News in an interview: "Pfizer's doing really well," adding "Johnson & Johnson ... they'll probably be a little later." He also cited efforts by Moderna Inc and AstraZeneca Plc.

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield recently told Congress that a face mask would provide more guaranteed protection than a vaccine, which would only be broadly available by "late second quarter, third quarter 2021."