The United States recorded more than 1,000 deaths from COVID-19 for the third day in a row on Thursday, a Reuters tally finds.
The rise in the US death toll has not seen back-to-back days with over 1,000 lives lost since early June.
Many states and local governments in May lifted restrictions and reopened beaches, restaurants and businesses, triggering a surge in cases in June and an increase in fatalities in July.
So far in July, 17 states have broken one-day records for increases in COVID-19 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.
With not all states reporting yet, deaths rose by at least 1,014 to a total of 144,211 on Thursday compared with a rise of 1,135 on Wednesday and a jump of 1,141 on Tuesday. Total cases across the United States surpassed 4 million and rose by at least 60,000 on Thursday.
Even though deaths are rising in the United States for a second week in a row, they remain well below levels seen in April, when 2,000 people a day on average died from the virus.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump warned that the coronavirus crisis in the United States is likely to "get worse before it gets better."
"Some areas of our country are doing very well. Others are doing less well. It will probably unfortunately get worse before it gets better," Trump said at his first formal White House virus briefing since the end of April.
Trump urged Americans to wear facemasks to help prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus.