Grim stability: US records almost 2,000 Covid-19 fatalities for 2nd day in a row, as death toll closes in on 15,000

With models predicting that the US is nearly at the peak of its Covid-19 death rate, the country reported almost 2,000 deaths on Wednesday, about the same number as the day prior. The US accounts for about a third of all cases.

After smashing its previous single-day death record on Tuesday, nearly crossing the 2,000-fatality milestone, the US on Wednesday reported about the same number of lethal cases from the virus gripping the country, a John Hopkins University tally suggests.

At least 1,973 people in the US succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, topping Tuesday's count by 34 more deaths.

While the center of the pandemic long ago shifted from China to Europe, where Italy holds the record of the most fatalities to date – over 17,600 – the US is not too far behind.

With 14,739 lethal cases since the beginning of the outbreak, the US is projected to overtake Spain – which has the second highest number of deaths worldwide – in the coming days, or even hours.   

While the coronavirus has spread to every US state and territory, New York remains the hardest-hit state, with the number of coronavirus cases there nearing a staggering 150,000. 

Its hospitals overwhelmed with a crush of patients in need of critical care, the state's Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered flags to fly at half mast on Wednesday to pay last respects to “those we have lost to the virus.”

Statisticians believe that the US is about to hit the peak of its Covid-19 outbreak, which could come as early as this week, according to recently updated projections by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. The IHME predicted that the peak will come on April 12, and may result in as many as 2,212 deaths on that day alone, but the rate is expected to slow down soon after.

The US has largely driven the surge in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases globally, which has surpassed 1.5 million, with the US making up nearly one third of the total.

US President Trump, however, has insisted that the growing share of US cases in the worldwide tally is due to rigorous testing rather than to a failure to contain the outbreak, repeatedly boasting that the US has tested more Covid-19 suspects than any other nation.

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