WASHINGTON, April 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The coronavirus death toll in the United States climbed by 1,891 in the past 24 hours to reach 38,664 on Saturday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
The US has seen a total of 732,197 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the start of the global health crisis, according to the Baltimore-based university.
It is the highest number of virus cases and deaths of any country in the world.
Meanwhile, the US Defense Department said it would extend travel restrictions through June 30 in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus, but will allow for some redeployments and repatriation of troops serving abroad.
The new order will go into effect on Monday, Matthew Donovan, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, told reporters in a telephone briefing.
In a bid to squelch the spread of the coronavirus within the US armed forces, Pentagon chief Mark Esper had ordered in late March a 60-day halt on all travel for civilian and military employees, as well as their family members.
That order was due to expire in May, and so the new measure extends it for a month.
Donovan did not specify if the allowance for repatriations would affect soldiers in conflict zones such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
On Friday, the Pentagon announced a total of 2,986 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, within the US military.
Two military personnel have died, including a sailor on the stricken aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, and 44 have been hospitalized. — NNN-AGENCIES
