The United States on Sunday recorded 63,872 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours, Johns Hopkins University reported in its real-time tally.

That put the total number of cases in the US, the nation hardest hit by the global pandemic, at 3,762,081, the Baltimore-based university said at 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Monday). Another 514 deaths were reported, bringing total fatalities to 140,474.

The US has recorded more than 60,000 new cases every day for the last six days, peaking at a record 77,638 infections on Friday.

President Donald Trump, in a Fox News interview broadcast on Sunday, again defended his handling of the pandemic, claiming that the US was "the envy of the world" on testing. Referring to his early prediction that the virus would disappear, he said, "I'll be right eventually."

He again opposed any national mandate for mask-wearing, saying, "I want people to have a certain freedom."