US surpasses 30 million COVID-19 cases amid vaccinations

The United States on Wednesday surpassed 30 million cases of COVID-19 even as the country is making progress on the number of vaccinations.

While daily new infections have decreased significantly from their peak in January, new cases remain high at around 55,000 cases per day, while 1,000 people are dying every day despite a decline in casualties due to vaccinations, reported The Hill.

Meanwhile, hundreds of spring breakers have been flocking to the streets, beaches and restaurants in Miami Beach in Florida, prompting health officials to urge people not to let down their guard.

Health officials have also warned against states lifting coronavirus restrictions until a wider share of the population is vaccinated.

"When I'm often asked, 'Are we turning the corner?' my response is really more like, 'We are at the corner. Whether or not we're going to be turning that corner still remains to be seen,'" said Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, on Wednesday during a White House briefing.

"You've got to continue to do what we're doing: more vaccinations and continue to do public health measures until we actually do turn the corner," he added.

The country is now vaccinating people at the pace of around 2.5 million shots every day, reported The Hill. 70 per cent of people aged 65 and above have received at least one shot, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Data.

Experts say people should still wear masks when in public and avoid crowds and travel.

"I continue to be worried about the latest data and the apparent stall we are seeing in the trajectory of the pandemic... CDC is watching these numbers very closely. As I said on Monday, the decisions we make now will determine what the pandemic looks like in the days and weeks ahead," said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on Wednesday.

The US continues to remain the worst affected country by the coronavirus pandemic, with 30,009,771 total infections and 545,237 deaths so far, according to Johns Hopkins University.

( With inputs from ANI )