(Reuters) - The United States on Saturday reported a record increase in coronavirus cases for a fourth consecutive day with at least 131,420 new infections, bringing the country's total caseload to about 9.91 million, according to a Reuters tally.
Seventeen states reported a record one-day increase on Saturday while 14 states reported record daily numbers of hospitalized patients.
The number of deaths nationwide was more than 1,000 for a fifth consecutive day on Saturday, according to a Reuters tally.
Ten U.S. states have so far reported record daily deaths during the first seven days of November: Arkansas, Idaho, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Based on a seven-day average, the United States is reporting over 100,000 new cases daily, more than the combined average for India and France, two of the worst affected countries in Asia and Europe.
The Midwest remains the hardest-hit U.S. region based on daily new cases per capita.
Illinois emerged as the new epicentre in the Midwest, with the state reporting over 60,000 COVID-19 infections in the last seven days, the highest in the country, according to Reuters data. The state reported more than 12,454 new cases on Saturday, highest single-day number so far.
Texas, which accounts for 10% of total U.S. cases, became the first state to surpass a million coronavirus cases in the United States on Saturday, having added 8,000 cases a day on average in the past seven days.