US coronavirus deaths reach 3,393, exceeding death toll in China: Reuters tally

US government races to build hundreds of makeshift hospitals as new cases continue to emerge

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES: US coronavirus-related deaths reached 3,393 on Tuesday, exceeding the total number of deaths reported in China and reaching the third highest in the world behind Italy and Spain, according to a Reuters tally.

Health officials urged Americans to follow stay-at-home orders and other measures to contain the spread of the virus, which originated in China in December. Globally, there are now over 800,000 cases of the highly contagious illness caused by the virus and more than 39,000 deaths reported.

Italy has 11,591 reported deaths followed by Spain at 8,189.

US rush to build field hospitals, find supplies

The US government raced to build hundreds of makeshift hospitals near major cities as healthcare systems were pushed to capacity, and sometimes beyond, by the coronavirus pandemic.

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Even as millions of Americans hunkered down in their homes under New strict “stay-at-home” orders, the death toll, as tallied by Reuters, shot up by more than 850 on Tuesday, by far the most for a single day.

Nearly half of the new fatalities were in New York state, the epicenter of the pandemic despite closed businesses and deserted streets. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pleaded for immediate reinforcements in the country’s biggest city from the Trump administration.

“This is the point at which we must be prepared for next week, when we expect a huge increase in the number of cases. What I asked very clearly, last week, was for military medical personnel to be deployed here,” de Blasio said at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, where a field hospital was being hastily built.

The sports complex is home to the US Open Tennis Championship, set to begin on Aug. 24. It remains on the calendar despite reports that Wimbledon, the sport’s most prestigious event, is unlikely to go forward as scheduled in June. The US Open and Wimbledon are two of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments.

De Blasio, a Democrat who last year sought his party’s presidential nomination, said he had asked the White House for an additional 1,000 nurses, 300 respiratory therapists and 150 doctors by Sunday.

'Debilitating and exhausting' 

Nearly 3,900 people have already died from COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, in the United States, more than the 2,977 who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The total confirmed US cases rose to 187,000.



White House medical experts say 100,000 to 240,000 people could ultimately perish from the respiratory disease in the United States, despite unprecedented orders by state and local governments largely confining Americans to their homes.

“We want Americans to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. We’re going to through a very tough two weeks and then, hopefully, as the experts are predicting ... you’re going to be seeing some real light at the end of the tunnel,” the president said.

US coronavirus-related deaths still trail those of Italy and Spain, which have more than 11,000 and 8,000 reported fatalities, respectively. China, where the outbreak is believed to have originated, has reported 3,305.