US Coronavirus Death Toll Exceeds China’s

The number of deaths in the United States from coronavirus has surpassed those reported by China, where the pandemic began in December, according to a toll published on Tuesday by Johns Hopkins University.

There have been 3,415 deaths in the US from the virus, the Baltimore-based university said, more than the 3,309 reported officially in China.

Italy has suffered the most virus deaths — 12,428 — according to Johns Hopkins, followed by Spain with 8,269 and then the United States.

There are 175,067 confirmed coronavirus cases in the US, the university said, the most of any country in the world.

Italy is next with 105,792 cases, followed by Spain with 94,417 and China with an official tally of 82,278.

Germany has 68,180 cases and 682 deaths followed by France and its overseas territories with 45,232 cases and 3,032 deaths, Johns Hopkins said.

The majority of cases and deaths in the US are in New York, which quickly became the epicenter of America’s outbreak after the state announced its first confirmed infection on March 1.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that the city was “tripling” hospital capacity in a bid to get ready for the peak of the pandemic expected in two to three weeks.

“(We) will require a level of hospital capacity we’ve never seen, (that) we’ve never even conceived of,” he told NBC.

Areas of the Big Apple are being quickly transformed to prepare for the influx that is already overwhelming stretched hospitals and putting a strain on medical supplies.