1 Sep

The total number of coronavirus cases in the United States has surpassed six million amid reports of outbreaks among students at campus.

The US has the world's largest numbers of both coronavirus cases and deaths. Johns Hopkins University says the number of cases in the US stands at 6,009,899 as of 18:00 UTC on Monday. The number of deaths in the country is over 180,000.

Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota have seen rapid increases in new cases over the past week. Experts say the surges were attributed partly to the reopening of in-person classes at colleges and universities in the states.

In Iowa, the daily count of new cases had been around 500 until early August.

But at the University of Iowa, which resumed classes in late August, more than 600 students were reported infected in a week. The daily tally in Iowa surpassed 2,600 last Thursday.

The same appears to be true in other states like Alabama. At the University of Alabama, more than 1,000 cases have been confirmed since classes resumed on its campus on August 19.

CNN said at least 36 states reported more than 8,700 cases at colleges and universities as of Sunday.

Officials are facing a daunting challenge of keeping infections low while maintaining in-person classes, as many schools are starting the new academic year.

NHK