Photo: ReutersThe US coronavirus death toll has reached a grim milestone, surpassing the number of American lives lost in the Vietnam War, as Florida's governor met with President Donald Trump to discuss easing shutdowns aimed at curbing the pandemic. While DeSantis' state has so far been spared the worst of the pandemic, Florida reported a record 83 new deaths and more than 700 new infections from the previous 24 hours on Tuesday. The state has so far tallied 32,846 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, including 1,171 deaths. The number of known US coronavirus infections has doubled over the past 18 days to more than 1 million. About 30% of American cases have occurred in New York state, the epicentre of the US outbreak, followed by New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, California, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Source: Otago Daily Times April 29, 2020 00:33 UTC