WASHINGTON: The United States recorded 2,494 more coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, according to figures reported Saturday night by Johns Hopkins University. The country now has an overall death toll of 53,511, with 936,293 confirmed infections, according to a tally by the Baltimore-based university at 8:30 p.m. (0030 GMT Sunday). The United States is by far the hardest-hit country in the global pandemic, in terms of both confirmed infections and deaths. The toll of 2,494 was a jump from Friday, when the US recorded the lowest number of virus deaths — 1,258 — in nearly three weeks. The world total for number of people infected by the virus, and the death toll passed 200,000 late Thursday.