United States coronavirus death toll passes 130,000

The death toll due to novel coronavirus in the United States has passed 130,000, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

The country also posted a disturbing number of new daily infections, at 54,999 and 357 new deaths.

The country has reported a total of 2,931,142 COVID-19 cases and 130,248 deaths, the university reported.

Officials in Texas warn hospitals in the US state will soon be overwhelmed if cases continue to surge.

There are concerns too that the Fourth of July holiday weekend of picnics, pool parties and beach outings that health officials fear could fuel the rapidly worsening outbreak.

More than 11.4 million people around the world have been diagnosed with coronavirus and 538, 238 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 6.2 million have recovered from the disease.