Coronavirus tracked: US now has more cases per capita than any other country

Study estimates at least 30,000 Covid-19 infections and 700 deaths can be attributed to Trump rallies

The US overtook Peru to be the country with the highest number of coronavirus cases per million people (iStock)

The US now has the highest number of coronavirus cases as a proportion of its population than any other country in the world after a record-breaking surge in new cases.

There are close to 9.5 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the US – also the highest of any country in the world – meaning roughly 27 people out of every 1,000 have now contracted the virus.

This figure is roughly double that of the UK, and nearly five-times the number of cases per capita in India.

In terms of total cases, the US accounts for roughly one fifth of all coronavirus infections around the world, according to figures gathered by OurWorldinData.

But in terms of cases per capita, the US had previously been trailing behind Brazil and Peru.

The US also leads the world in terms of total deaths, with more than 230,000 since the first fatality was reported at the beginning of March.

Both the number of daily new cases and the number of new deaths is increasing, though it is the number of new cases that is rising the steepest.

Daily cases exceeded 100,000 for the first time on 31 October, having previously peaked just below 80,000 back in July.

Current trends suggest the US will pass 10 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 in less than 10 days.

New deaths in the US also continue to consistently reach above 1,000, though despite the surging case numbers the death toll is yet to see a similar spike.

Even the most optimistic projections forecast that the number of deaths will pass 250,000 before the end of November.

Despite these figures, the Trump administration has consistently downplayed the severity of the pandemic and contradicted the advice of medical experts.

A recent study from Stanford University estimated that at least 30,000 coronavirus infections and 700 deaths can be attributed to campaign rallies held by President Trump between June and September.

Last week, Donald Trump Jr. claimed that the number of coronavirus deaths in the US had dropped to “almost nothing” in an interview with Fox News.

He made the comments in response to suggestions that people who attend Trump campaign rallies should quarantine in order to not risk spreading the virus.

“These people are truly morons,” Trump’s son said.

“I kept hearing about new infections but I was like, why aren’t they talking about deaths? Oh, because the number is almost nothing. Because we’ve gotten control of this thing, we understand how it works.”