U.S. adds 81K COVID-19 cases; more than 260K sickened over last 3 days

Nov. 2 (UPI) -- The United States has added more than a quarter-million new COVID-19 cases over the last three days -- by far the largest national three-day tally of the pandemic. About 2,300 patients died.

According to updated data from Johns Hopkins University, 81,500 cases were reported Sunday -- the most ever recorded for a Sunday, when figures are typically lower because of slower reporting over the weekend.

The United States obliterated its single-day record on Friday with almost 100,000 new cases. The three-day total ending Sunday was about 262,000. The five-day total is about 430,000 and the seven-day total close to 570,000.

There were also about 450 new deaths on Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins. More than 6,000 patients have died of the virus in the United States over the past week.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 9.21 million cases and 231,000 deaths nationwide.

With the disease surging in the Midwest, hospitalizations nationwide are close to 50,000, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

In Iowa, state health officials have seen seven straight days of increases of seriously ill patients. The state has averaged more than 2,000 new cases per day, a record high.

In Wisconsin, officials say a record number of patients are receiving hospital care, with about a fifth of them in intensive care. Several patients are being treated at a newly created field hospital at the Wisconsin State Fair Park.

The state saw a record number of new cases over the weekend. Wisconsin's positivity rate is about 19%.