The United States just had its deadliest day on record due to the coronavirus as states across the country begin to ease restrictions meant to curb the spread of the virus, according to data published by the World Health Organization.
The U.S. saw 2,909 people die of Covid-19 in 24 hours, according to the Friday data.
That’s the highest daily Covid-19 death toll in the U.S. yet, based on a CNBC analysis of the WHO’s daily Covid-19 situation reports.
Before May 1, the next highest U.S. daily death toll was 2,471 reported on April 23, according to the WHO.
State officials have previously warned that data on Covid-19 deaths are difficult to analyze because they often represent patients who became ill and were hospitalized weeks ago.
The country’s deadliest day comes as state officials weigh reopening parts of the economy and easing stay-at-home orders.
Public health officials and epidemiologists have warned that as the public grows fatigued by restrictions and businesses reopen, the virus could spread rapidly throughout communities that have yet to experience a major epidemic.
Protesters in at least 10 states on Friday demanded that the government lift stay-at-home orders and other emergency measures put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Among the states that saw protests are California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee and Washington.
Dozens of states have unveiled reopening plans and several, including Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, have already begun to allow nonessential retailers to reopen.
New York state, which has reported more than 27% of all confirmed cases in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, has borne the brunt of the U.S. outbreak so far.
The state has reported at least 24,039 of the country’s 65,173 Covid-19 deaths, according to Hopkins.
The toll of the deadliest day of Covid-19 in the U.S. rivals that of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which claimed the lives of 2,973 people in one day, according to a government commission.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir drug to treat Covid-19, President Trump announced Friday.
The EUA means that remdesivir has not undergone the same level of review as an FDA-approved treatment, according to a fact sheet from the agency on the drug.
\However, doctors will be allowed to use the drug on patients hospitalized with the disease even though the drug has not been formally approved by the agency.
The intravenous drug has helped shorten the recovery time of some hospitalized Covid-19 patients, new clinical trial data suggests.
Without other proven treatments, health-care workers will likely be considering its use.
The FDA previously authorized the emergency use of malaria drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19.
However, it later issued a warning against taking the drugs outside a hospital or formal clinical trial setting after it became aware of reports of “serious heart rhythm problems” in patients.