New York, March 26 (IANS) The number of COVID-19 cases in the US topped 60,000 as of 3.30 p.m., US Eastern Time on Wednesday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The fresh figure reached 62,068 with 869 deaths, the CSSE said, Xinhua reported.

The state of New York has become the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, with 30,811 cases reported. New Jersey and California have reported 4,402 and 2,660 cases, respectively, according to the center.

--IANS pgh/