The United States notched more than 43,000 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, a tally by Johns Hopkins University showed Saturday, amid a surge of infections around the country.

The Baltimore-based university’s tracker showed 43,742 more cases as of 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Sunday), bringing the country’s total number of cases since the pandemic began to 2,836,764.

The university also recorded a further 252 fatalities, bringing the total death toll to 129,657.

The uptick in cases came after three consecutive days of record numbers of new infections, including a high of 57,683 on Friday.

Saturday’s lower number could be attributed to less reporting on the July 4th national holiday.

The United States is the hardest-hit country in the global pandemic, both in caseload and deaths.

President Donald Trump on Saturday accused China—where the outbreak originated—of a cover-up that allowed the illness to race across the globe, but hailed American “scientific brilliance.”

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