US death toll tops 3,000 - more than the number killed on 9/11
AMERICA’S coronavirus death toll soared beyond 3,000 – surpassing the number of people who died in the 9/11 terror attacks.
Covid-19 has killed at least 3,538 people in the States, eclipsing the 2,977 victims from the World Trade Centre, Pentagon, and four hijacked planes in 2001.
US health officials have now warned the virus could kill as many as 200,000 people.
New York, New Jersey and Washington state have led the country in highest death tolls from the virus, while Hawaii and Wyoming have reported no fatalities.
There have been at least 177,308 confirmed Covid-19 patients since the country’s first case in January was detected in Washington state.
Dr Anthony Fauci, an infectious disease expert on the White House task force, said: “Looking at what we’re seeing now, I would say between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths. We’re going to have millions of cases.”
New York city is the worst-hit, with 914 confirmed fatalities.
Governor Anthony Cuomo warned the worst is yet to come and pleaded for medical volunteers yesterday.
He said: “We’ve lost almost 1,000 New Yorkers. That’s a lot of loss. That’s a lot of pain.
That’s a lot of tears. Please come help us in New York right now.”
Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey, the US state with the second-highest number of cases, also raised the alarm, saying the “need [was] dire”.
He added: “We need more ventilators... This is real life. This is life and death.”
The rising death toll came as
Johnson & Johnson said it had agreed a joint deal with the US Government to invest $1billion to create capacity to make more than one billion doses of a Covid19 vaccine it is testing.
The pharmaceutical giant plans human clinical trials by September.
If they are successful it hopes to roll out an “emergency” version by early next year.