U.S. COVID-19 deaths reach 124,000 amid soaring new cases

U.S. COVID-19 deaths reached 124,964 with over 2.4 million infections, while the number of new cases continues to rise across the country over three months into the pandemic.

A total of 2,461,444 cases were reported in the country with fatalities reaching 124,964 as of 6:53 p.m. local time (2253 GMT) on Friday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top health expert, warned on Friday that some parts of the country are facing "a serious problem" and the White House coronavirus task force is "seriously considering" pool testing for COVID-19.

Worldwide, COVID-19 cases surpassed 9.6 million and the death toll from the virus was 491,744.