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| Trump cancels Republican convention as virus soars | Trump cancels Republican convention as virus soars |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| President Donald Trump has cancelled the Republican party convention in Florida, citing the pandemic, as US coronavirus cases passed 4 million. | |
| "It's not the right time for that," he said, adding that he would still give a convention speech in a different form. | "It's not the right time for that," he said, adding that he would still give a convention speech in a different form. |
| The sheriff in Jacksonville warned this week the city was not ready for such a party jamboree next month. | |
| The event was relocated from Charlotte, North Carolina, after that state imposed social distancing rules. | The event was relocated from Charlotte, North Carolina, after that state imposed social distancing rules. |
| Although the Jacksonville events have been called off, some delegates will still gather in Charlotte. | |
| Mr Trump told Thursday's White House coronavirus briefing that safety was his primary concern behind the decision. | |
| At that event, the president will formally accept his party's nomination to be its standard-bearer in November's presidential election. | |
| Opinion polls suggest Mr Trump is facing an uphill battle for a second term in office amid criticism of his handling of the pandemic. | |
| Last month, the Democratic convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, also due to take place in August, was drastically scaled back. | |
| Mr Trump's challenger, Joe Biden, will be formally nominated by his party at that event. | |
| What is the national picture? | |
| The US is recording an average of 2,600 cases per hour, the highest rate globally, according to a tally by Reuters news agency. | |
| On Wednesday, California passed New York - the former epicentre of the US outbreak - for the most confirmed cases with 409,000. | |
| On the same day, Missouri, North Dakota and West Virginia all broke their records for the most new cases in a 24-hour period. | |
| Alabama, Idaho and Texas also reported new record highs in daily deaths. | |
| Across the US on Wednesday, a total 69,707 new virus cases were recorded. |