US virus cases near an all-time high as governors backtrack

By JENNIFER PELTZ and ELAINE KURTENBACH Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — The daily U.S. count of new coronavirus cases stood near an all-time high Thursday. It’s hovering close to the late-April peak that marked some of the darkest and deadliest days of the crisis so far. According to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University, the 34,300 COVID-19 cases reported Wednesday were slightly fewer than the day before, but still close to the U.S. daily high of 36,400 from April.  At the same time, the nation’s daily death toll has continued dropping, an encouraging sign that may reflect the advent of new treatments, better efforts to prevent infections at nursing homes. After peaking at 2,200 on April 18, the number is now about 600 a day.