MORE than 10,000 people have died in the U.S. from the coronavirus, one day after it was warned this could be "the hardest and saddest week of most Americans' lives."
The death toll rose on Monday to at least 10,335, with a total of more than 347,000 cases across the country.
The U.S. now has the third-highest number of officially acknowledged deaths from the deadly illness, following behind Italy with more than 16,500 deaths and Spain with 13,000.
On Sunday, President Donald Trump warned the nation's number of coronavirus cases would soon peak — just hours after Surgeon General Jerome Adams compared the pandemic's impact to another 9/11.
Adams described the coming week as "our Pearl Harbor moment."
"It’s going to be our 9/11 moment,” he said on NBC. "It’s going to be the hardest moment for many Americans in their entire lives."
"We really need to understand that if we want to flatten that curve and get through to the other side, everyone needs to do their part.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Sunday: "I will not say we have it under control, that would be a false statement."
"We are struggling to get it under control and that's the issue that's at hand right now."
Fauci told Americans to "buckle down, continue to mitigate, continue to do the physical separation."
"We [have] got to get through this week that's coming up because it is going to be a bad week," he said on CBS.
But Fauci explained the real extent of the COVID-related deaths would not be seen straight away.
"The end result of that you don't see for days or weeks down the pipe because, as the cases go down, then you get less hospitalizations, less intensive care and less death."
"So even though you're getting really an improvement in that the number of new cases are starting to flatten, the deaths will lag by one or two weeks or more," he added.
"We need to be prepared that even though it's clear that mitigation is working, we're still going to see that tail-off of deaths."
Researchers from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics released a new model which indicates the U.S. is just 10 days from running out of resources when the demand for hospital beds surges to 262,092.
The country currently has 87,674 less beds than that number as Trump warned Americans that a "very deadly period" was coming.
A sea of coronavirus patients will result in the need for 39,727 ICU beds – but the stark new projection estimates this is 19,863 more than we have.
Health experts and researchers have previously warned that the ongoing COVID-19 crisis could result in the deaths of 100,000 by August 4.
The White House conceded 100,000 and 240,000 U.S. fatalities could be a reality if the nation's virus trajectory continues – even if Americans maintain their social distancing efforts.
New York is expected to reach its apex in just five days with 855 deaths on April 10 – and over 76,000 beds needed on April 9 – as 16,000 New Yorkers might perish from the deadly disease by August 4.
In Washington state, where the first U.S. case emerged, the coronavirus crisis will peak in just four days as experts warn 1,000 people could die by August 4.
Ilinois is expected to reach 3,386 deaths by August 4, but the state will peak in 15 days when 109 people will die overnight.
Florida's apex is expected on May 4, with 175 deaths in 24 hours, while Michigan will peak in six days with 173 deaths on April 11.
Louisiana will reach its peak in five days, with 76 fatalities on April 10 while more than 1,800 people are expected to die in the southern state by August 4.
New Orleans, where Mardi Gras celebrations in late February reportedly spread of the infection, has also demonstrated some unexpectedly high rates, where the death rate is double that of NYC.
California will reach the peak of its crisis by April 26 when there will be 119 coronavirus deaths on April 26, researchers say, with 5,068 fatalities by August 4.
Massachusetts will peak in 12 days with more than 2,300 deaths by August 4; New Jersey will peak in four days; and Georgia, in 20.
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