Today the United States edged close to the grim milestone of 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus as the drop in new COVID-19 cases seen in recent weeks across the country appears to be ending and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) again waffles on guidance, this time regarding the mode of virus spread.The current US totals stand at 6,831,222 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 199,766 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 online tracker.After a steady decline in new cases from the peak of well over 60,000 a day in July, a Reuters analysis shows that US officials reported a 17% increase in the number of new infections last week compared with the previous 7 days.