The United States set a new record for the highest number of new daily coronavirus cases on Thursday — more than 90,000 — as the total case count in the nation surpassed nine million since the start of the pandemic, while the spread of the virus shows no signs of slowing down.

A number of states also saw a record-breaking number of daily new cases on Thursday: more than 2,000 in Colorado, 6,400 in Illinois and 1,000 in New Mexico. 

On the same day, South Dakota reported 19 new deaths, while Wyoming recorded 10 new deaths — daily numbers previously unseen in both states. 

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In the seven-day period ending Thursday, 24 states added more cases than in any other seven-day stretch of the pandemic.

New cases are increasing in 42 states, including some Northeastern states such as New Jersey and Rhode Island that had seen months of low infection rates.

Daily reports of deaths from the virus remain far below their spring peaks, averaging around 800 a day, but those, too, have started to tick upward. More than 228,000 Americans have died from the virus since the pandemic began, the most of any country worldwide, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Though the number of daily deaths from the virus is much lower than numbers from the Spring at an average 800 deaths per day, that number has begun trending upward as well.

Experts have expressed concern that cases will continue to surge as cold weather pushes many Americans indoors, where the virus is able to spread more easily, and as families will be tempted to gather for the holidays.

“We’re going into a precarious situation,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a recent interview.

Fauci said the recent spike in cases is largely being caused by small gatherings of families and friends where precautions including mask wearing and social distancing are not being taken.

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