⁍ More than 160,000 people have died from the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.

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⁍ The country recorded 160,003 deaths and 4.91 million cases, the highest caseload in the world.

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⁍ Public health experts have voiced concern for weeks that Americans in some quarters were resisting wearing masks.

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– More than 160,000 people have died from the coronavirus in the US, nearly a quarter of the global total, according to a Reuters tally on Friday, as the country debates whether schools are ready to reopen in coming weeks. The country recorded 160,003 deaths and 4.91 million cases, the highest caseload in the world. Public health experts have voiced concern for weeks that Americans in some quarters were resisting wearing masks and maintaining safe social distances. Coronavirus deaths are rising in 23 states and cases are rising in 20 states, according to a Reuters analysis of data the past two weeks compared with the prior two weeks. On a per-capita basis, the United States ranks 10th highest in the world for both cases and deaths. Friday’s grim milestone marks an increase of 10,000 deaths in nine days in the United States. Many of those died in California, Florida, and Texas, the top three US states for total cases. While new infections appear to be declining in those states, new outbreaks are emerging coast to coast. Some states, including Florida and Iowa, are mandating schools provide at least some in-person learning, while the governors of South Carolina and Missouri have recommended all classrooms reopen. In New York City, where 1.1 million children attend the country’s largest network of public schools, Mayor Bill de Blasio has said students’ attendance will be limited to between one and three days each week. Parents in New York City have until Friday to request all remote learning for their children.