WASHINGTON (AFP) - The number of new coronavirus infections in the United States is approaching record daily levels, with more than 35,900 cases recorded in the past 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

That brings the number of cases in the country to nearly 2.4 million, the tracker from the Baltimore-based university showed at 8.30pm local time on Wednesday (8.30am Thursday, June 25, Singapore time), after several days in which the number of cases has surged.

Nearly half of the 50 US states have seen an increase in infections over the past two weeks, with some - such as Texas and Florida - posting daily records.

The Hopkins tracker also showed on Wednesday that 756 people had died of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.

More than 120,000 people have died from Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, in the United States, by far the highest toll for any nation.

The World Health Organisation said on Wednesday global infections were likely to hit 10 million within a week.

The WHO said the length and height of peaks would be determined by government actions, without which a lurch back towards lockdowns was unavoidable.