Healthcare workers place a sample from a patient into a tube for testing in the Brooklyn borough of New York. AFP

The United States has dipped under 50,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time in four days, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, but experts fear celebrations for the July 4th Independence Day weekend will act like rocket fuel for the nation’s surging outbreak.

Johns Hopkins counted 45,300 new coronavirus infections in the US on Saturday after three days in which the daily count reached as high as 54,500 new cases. The lower figure on Saturday does not necessarily mean the situation in the US is improving, as it could be due to reduced reporting on a national holiday.

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The United States has the most infections and virus-related deaths in the world, with 2.8 million cases and nearly 130,000 dead, according to the university. Experts say the true toll of the pandemic is significantly higher, due to people who died before they were tested and missed mild cases.

To show just how steep the current infection curve is in the US, the country was reporting under 20,000 new infections a day as recently as June 15.

This handout photo by Northwell Health shows Yanira Soriano meeting her son for the first time in New York. File/AFP

Despite warnings by health experts to limit gatherings, President Donald Trump went ahead with a speech at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on Friday and an evening of tribute and fireworks Saturday on the National Mall in Washington.

A third African head of state in the space of a week and a half is self-isolating after someone close to him tested positive for the coronavirus.

Ghana’s information ministry says President Nana Akufo-Addo has tested negative but decided to isolate himself "out of an abundance of caution.”

People enjoy the less restricted beachfront in Ventura, California. AFP

Senegal’s President Macky Sall late last month isolated himself after a similar situation, and Botswana’s government on Thursday said President Mokgweetsi Masisi had gone into self-isolation yet again after a close official tested positive. This is the fourth time he has done so since March.

Associated Press