U.S. coronavirus death toll tops 6,000 as officials warn worst yet to come

Medical personnel wearing personal protective equipment remove a body from the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center to refrigerated containers parked outside.

Five weeks after authorities confirmed the first coronavirus death on U.S. soil, the nation’s death toll is now nearly twice as high as China’s official tally.

More than 6,050 people have died in this country since the virus began spreading from China into every region of the world earlier this year, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

But even as the numbers rise at almost unimaginable speed, U.S. officials have warned Americans that the worst is yet to come. In a somber news briefing earlier this week, President Trump said the nation should brace for “a hell of a bad two weeks" as his coronavirus task force projects that as many as 240,000 people could die in the U.S. even if current social distancing guidelines are maintained.

More than a third of all U.S. deaths were in New York, where Gov. Cuomo on Thursday confirmed a total of nearly 2,500 fatalities statewide.

Also on Thursday, the U.S. recorded the highest daily death toll of any country since the pandemic began, with about 1,170 people losing their lives in 24 hours.

The only countries with more confirmed coronavirus deaths than the U.S. are Italy and Spain, both of which have more than 10,000 fatalities.

There’s increasing skepticism, however, over the death count in China and Iran. U.S. intelligence officials said in a classified report that China has vastly understated its COVID-19 infections and deaths.

China reported more than 80,000 cases and 3,000 deaths before both figures flatlined last month. Many officials believe the crisis in China may still be worse than in the U.S.

“The claim that the United States has more coronavirus deaths than China is false," Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska said in a statement Wednesday. “Without commenting on any classified information, this much is painfully obvious: The Chinese Communist Party has lied, is lying, and will continue to lie about coronavirus to protect the regime.”