US toll of new virus deaths under 700 for third day straight

The United States has posted a toll of less than 700 new coronavirus deaths for the third day in a row, the Johns Hopkins University tracker said Tuesday.

A total of 657 people have died in the past 24 hours as of 8:30 pm (0030 GMT), the Baltimore-based institution said.

The overall death toll is now 98,875, and the number of cases of infection stands at more than 1.68 million, it said.

Both are the highest anywhere in the world.