The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday reported 10,491 cases of coronavirus, an increase of 3,404 from its previous count, and said the death toll had risen by 53 to 150, the biggest one-day jump so far.
President Donald Trump earlier in the day urged health regulators to expedite potential therapies aimed at treating COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, saying it could lead to a breakthrough while a vaccine is still under development.
Trump pointed to efforts on Gilead Sciences Inc's <GILD.O> experimental antiviral drug Remdesivir and the generic malaria drug hydroxychloroquine.
The CDC reported its tally of COVID-19 cases as of 4 p.m. ET on March 18, compared with its count a day earlier. (https://bit.ly/2IVY1JT)
Coronavirus cases have been reported in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The CDC figures do not necessarily reflect cases reported by individual states.
(Reporting by Vishwadha Chander in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Sriraj Kalluvila)
