New York (AFP) – The United States was quickly becoming a new epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic Thursday as new infections soared and unemployment claims skyrocketed to a historic high.Hospitals increasingly have reported being overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases and 40 percent of Americans are under lockdown orders, although a buoyant Wall Street recouped more of this month’s massive losses as Congress moved forward on a $2 trillion rescue package.More than 100 people died in the past day in virus hotbed New York, where a long line of people, most in masks and standing three feet (a me…