NEW YORK, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The total number of COVID-19 cases in the United States surpassed 7 million on Friday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

U.S. COVID-19 case count rose to 7,005,746, with the national death toll reaching 203,240, as of 2:23 p.m. local time (1823 GMT), according to the CSSE.

California reported 801,006 cases, the highest among all states. Texas registered 747,491 cases, followed by Florida with 695,887 cases. The caseload of New York state exceeded 450,000.

Other states with over 200,000 cases include Georgia, Illinois, Arizona, North Carolina and New Jersey, according to the CSSE.

U.S. COVID-19 cases topped 5 million on Aug. 9, and hit 6 million on Aug. 31.

By far, the United States remains the world's worst-hit nation, with the most cases and deaths, making up more than one fifth of the global caseload and death toll, respectively.

The arrival of the fall semester combined with the flu season has sparked great concern over an uptick in new cases around the country.

Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told the Senate Health Committee in a hearing on Wednesday that more than 90 percent of the U.S. population is susceptible to COVID-19, citing a study conducted by the agency.

In addition, an ensemble forecast released Thursday by the CDC predicted that the virus may have caused a total of 214,000 to 226,000 deaths in the United States by Oct. 17.