In the last 24 hours, 39,617 new cases of coronavirus and 1,293 deaths have been recorded in the US, according to the Johns Hopkins University website.
The number of victims is the highest since 19 August.
The daily average of infections in the US is 38,037, 5% more than the previous week.
Meanwhile, President Trump continues to send signals of optimism on the vaccine front.
"I think the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine may begin in October, possibly as early as mid-October," he said in a press conference at the White House, predicting the "distribution of 100 million doses by the end of 2020".
"The largest vaccine distribution in American history," he stressed.
Galvanized by a Rasmussen poll that points him in the lead for the first time on Joe Biden (47% to 46%), Donald Trump is playing his vaccine card before the election, despite expert skepticism and growing fears of pressure at the expense safety and efficacy.
The promise comes in an ABC 'president and people' town hall in Philadelphia with about twenty undecided voters from Pennsylvania, one of the states in the balance.
It is the president's first debate with an audience other than his cheering fans at rallies or hostile journalists at press conferences.
A confrontation where he was able to "warm up" in view of the first TV duel with Joe Biden at the end of the month, showing little empathy, manipulating reality but always revealing himself as an effective communicator.
The president reassured that the virus "will go away" even without a vaccine because "a herd mentality will develop", a reference probably to the so-called herd immunity, which however requires the contagion of at least 70% of the population: therefore a huge number of deaths, which in the US are already reaching 200,000 and which in the last 24 hours have reached the highest daily number since 19 August: 1,293.
Not only.
The tycoon, pursued by a voter, questioned the use of masks, recommended by the experts of his task force: "There are people who think they are not a good thing", he replied, explaining that those who use them constantly touch. other things.
But Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the federal health protection agency, denied the president about the timing of the vaccine just as the White House announced it is targeting 100 million doses by the end of the year. .
Testifying to the Senate, he said he did not expect a coronavirus vaccine to be widely available to Americans before the end of Q2 / Q3 of 2021. And he also contradicted him on the use of face masks, arguing that it could be more. effective of a vaccine.
This time, however, surprisingly, the well-known US immunologist Anthony Fauci came to Trump's rescue saying that he was "still ready to bet" that a safe and effective vaccine can be reached by November / December.