U.S. COVID-19 cases surpass 20 million as deaths mount

FILE PHOTO: Tanna Ingraham places a sheet over the body of a patient who died inside the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, U.S., December 30, 2020. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare/File Photo

(Reuters) - U.S. coronavirus cases crossed the 20 million mark on Friday as officials seek to speed up vaccinations and a more infectious variant surfaces in Colorado, California and Florida.

The United States has seen a spike in number of daily COVID-19 fatalities since Thanksgiving with 78,000 lives lost in December. A total of 345,000 have died of COVID-19, or one out of every 950 U.S. residents, since the virus first emerged in China late in 2019. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)