U.S. reports most COVID-19 cases in any week since the start of the pandemic

The United States just reported the most new COVID-19 cases in one week since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Numbers from Johns Hopkins University show that the U.S. confirmed over 481,000 new cases of COVID-19 over the past week, which is the highest one-week tally since the pandemic began, CNN reports.

The seven-day average of new daily cases in the U.S. has reached more than 68,000, which according to CNN surpasses the previous record of about 67,000 in July. On Friday, the U.S. set a new single-day record for new cases with about 83,000 infections confirmed in one day.

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"I think we're in for a very hard stretch here" former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC. "I think the winter is going to be very difficult."

These new numbers come after President Trump at a rally on Sunday again claimed that the coronavirus pandemic is "ending" and that the U.S. is "rounding the turn" despite the uptick in cases. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in a Sunday interview also said the Trump administration is "not going to control the pandemic" but will "control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics, and other mitigations."

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden sharply criticized these comments by Meadows, calling them a "candid acknowledgment of what President Trump's strategy has clearly been from the beginning of this crisis: to wave the white flag of defeat."