The United States passed the grim milestone of 180,000 coronavirus deaths Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University's real-time tracker.

The US added 931 new virus deaths in 24 hours, the Baltimore-based university reported at 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Friday), bringing the total death toll to 180,527.

US surpasses 180,000 virus deaths
Members of the Covid Memorial Project hold American flags in front of the Washington monument to commemorate the victims of the coronavirus. Photo: AFP / Olivier DOULIERY

An additional 42,859 new cases brought the overall caseload to 5,860,397. The US is by far the hardest-hit country in the world in terms of both number of cases and deaths.

At least 2,101,326 have recovered from the virus in the country.

The number of new Covid-19 cases in the US has dropped in recent weeks, but the country is far from out of the woods, with case numbers varying vastly by region.

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