The US suffered its biggest one-day death toll from the coronavirus to date on Friday, as several states are beginning to reopen parts of their economies and ease lockdown measures.
According to data published by the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 1 at 4 a.m. ET, the country recorded 2,909 deaths in 24 hours — its worst number yet.
The previous record was on April 23, when the country saw 2,471 deaths in one day, according to CNBC. At the time of writing, there have been more than 67,000 coronavirus-related deaths in the US.
The new figure comes as around half of US states have already partially eased lockdown restrictions, according to the BBC.
Other states, including Florida, have announced they will be partially lifting stay-at-home orders on Monday, Tampa Bay Times reported. States including Georgia and Texas have already started allowing non-essential businesses to reopen.
Georgia reported over 1,000 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on May 1, the same day Gov. Brian Kemp lifted the shelter-in-place order.
State officials have been under increasing amounts of pressure, as demonstrations to reopen the economy continue to take place across the country. On Friday, protesters took to the streets in states including California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee, and Washington.
The data published by the WHO is different from that of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It does not report historical daily coronavirus deaths, according to CNBC.
On the same day of the WHO report, the agency reported 2,349 deaths from the virus.
But a spokesperson told CNBC this data might not be complete because of delays in reporting, asymptomatic patients, and limited testing make it harder to track the deaths.
CDC spokeswoman Kate Grusich told CNBC: “CDC does not know the exact number of COVID-19 illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths for a variety of reasons.”
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo — whose state is one of the worst-affected in the country —said on Saturday that he needs more information about the spread of the virus before loosening restrictions, Al Jazeera reported.
“Even when you are in uncharted waters, it doesn’t mean you proceed blindly,” Cuomo said.
“Use the information to determine action — not emotions, not politics, not what people think or feel, but what we know in terms of facts,” he added BI
