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US COVID-19 death toll passes 4,000, surpasses China

WION Web Team
WashingtonUpdated: Apr 01, 2020, 01:22 PM IST
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Photograph:(AFP)

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New York which has now become the epicenter of the virus reported 76,000 cases

The death toll in the US due to coronavirus surged to 4,076, according to Johns Hopkins University live tracker of coronavirus surpassing China's toll which currently stands at over 3,310 fatalities.

New York which has now become the epicenter of the virus reported 76,000 cases even as US President warned Americans to take "social distancing" guidelines seriously terming it as a life or death fight.

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The virus has killed more than 1,700 New Yorkers so far. The number of cases in the United States of COVID-19 currently stands at 189,510 with the figure expected to rise.

As the epidemic shows no signs of subsiding, New York mayor  Bill de Blasio said that the city had tripled hospital capacity as health services struggle to treat patients.

US President Trump on Tuesday said that the country was headed towards a "very painful, a very, very painful two week" as the death toll continued to rise while health experts said that there was "no magic vaccine or therapy".

Trump described the pandemic as "a plague" while telling US citizens that, "I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead."

Meanwhile, infectious diseases specialist Anthony Fauci said that "mitigation is actually working" and that authorities are "doing everything we can to get the death toll significantly below that."