President Donald Trump warned that America's "toughest week" of the coronavirus crisis is coming up, predicting "there will be death" as the number of Covid-19 cases surges in the days ahead.
His remarks came as coronavirus is spreading fiercely in US and has killed scores of Americans so far.
"It will probably be the most severe week ... and many will die," Trump said, adding, "Maybe we have never seen anything like this. Perhaps only during World War I or World War II or the like."
The US president urged citizens to prepare for a significant increase in deaths over the coming days, rejecting criticism that the federal government had not done enough to provide ventilators.
In New York, the hardest-hit American state, Governor Andrew Cuomo said that 630 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, in the worst daily toll so far, up to a total of 3565 deaths. Cuomo added that the injuries were escalating, almost like the fire, in Long Island, east of New York City.
Health experts believe that New York may reach the peak within a week, and Cuomo announced that the Chinese government has facilitated the donation of 1,000 ventilators.
The city's mayor, Bill de Palacio, made an appeal to healthcare professionals, saying that the state needs about 45,000 health sector employees to fight the epidemic, in the next two months, in addition to between 2,500 to 3,000 additional breathing devices.
In the same context, Wayne Riley, the chief physician at the New York University Medical Center, warned from the lack of personal protective equipment for doctors, and said that doctors would soon have to replacing surgical clothing with garbage bags and raincoats.
Meanwhile, United Airlines said it would cut dramatically its flights to two airports in New York City due to the outbreak of the virus.
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