US Death Toll Update: Fatalities Soar To 100 On Monday While More Than 10,000 New Cases Reported On The Same Day

The U.S. just experienced the deadliest day in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, more than 100 deaths were recorded, the highest number of single-day fatalities so far.

Data from the Worldometer site reveal that 140 coronavirus infected patients died in the U.S. on Monday alone. This brought the total number of deaths in the country to 553 persons.

There was also a surge of new infections with a total of 10,168 new COVID-19 cases reported on Monday based on data from the site. The total number of confirmed infections in the U.S. is 43,734, as of Mar. 23.

Due to the rising number of coronavirus cases, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Gov. Greg Abbot ordered to postpone “all surgeries and procedures that are not immediately medically necessary,” CNN reported. The move is aimed at freeing up more healthcare resources for use in the state’s fight against the COVID-19 spread.

“We must work together as Texans to stop the spread of COVID-19 and ensure that our health care professionals and facilities have all the resources they need to fight the virus at this time,” Paxton said. “No one is exempt from the governor's executive order on medically unnecessary surgeries and procedures, including abortion providers.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also announced that people flying in from New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut – places hit hard by the virus - will be told to self-quarantine for 14 days. “Today there's over 190 direct flights from the New York City area to the state of Florida, and I would reckon, given the outbreak there, that every single flight has somebody on it who's positive for Covid-19,” DeSantis explained.

Meanwhile, health authorities warned people that things could still get worse. “I want America to understand -- this week, it's going to get bad,” said U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams. “We really, really need everyone to stay at home. I think that there are a lot of people who are doing the right things, but ... we're finding out a lot of people think this can't happen to them.”

Meanwhile, several states are planning to put up stricter social distancing rules. “There will be a civil fine and mandatory closure for any business that is not in compliance,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

Maryland is ordering the closure of all non-critical establishments as of 5 p.m. Maryland ordered nonessential businesses to close their workplaces until Apr. 7. The state is also banning gatherings of over 10 people, down from the previous limit of 25.