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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the death toll in the United States has increased significantly in the past year. AP's Jackie Quinn reports. New government data quantifies the increase in deaths in the U.S. over a 13-month span ending February 27th of this year. It shows the country saw about 600,000 more deaths than usual, with COVID-19 being the major cause of the increase. While COVID-related deaths were about 75 percent of the total, the CDC also noted a record high spike in overdose deaths as well - 87,000 deaths reported aver a 12-month period ending in September of last year. That's a 29 percent increase in overdoses compared to the prior year. I'm Jackie Quinn.
Daily infections of COVID-19 crossed 200,000 in India Thursday, making it the highest anywhere in the world. Reuters Soraya Ali reports. At Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, one of India's largest COVID-only facilities with more than 1,500 beds, a stream of ambulances ferried patients to the overflowing casualty ward. After imposing one of the world's strictest lockdowns for nearly three months last year, India's government relaxed almost all curbs by the beginning of 2021. Now many regions, including Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra state, are introducing localized restrictions. The government has blamed a widespread failure to practice social distancing and wear face masks. Experts have blamed everything from official complacency to aggressive variants. That's Reuters Soraya Ali.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week. We get more from AP's Ben Thomas. The Labor Department's weekly report shows first-time claims for jobless aid plummeted by 193,000 to 576,000. That's a new low since the coronavirus pandemic first struck and a hopeful sign that layoffs are easing as the economy recovers from the recession it brought on. While still high in historical terms, jobless claims are now well below their peak of 900,000 in early January. Ben Thomas, Washington.
The Dow Jones Industrials dosed above 34,000 for the first time on Thursday as the Blue Chip benchmark and the S&P posted fresh record highs. The Dow rose nine tenths of a percent, the S&P gained 1.11 percent, the NASDAQ also gained, adding 1.31 percent. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd, VOA News. Visit voanews.com for more.
