US surpasses Italy for most virus deaths in the world, tally says

New York

The United States on Saturday surpassed Italy for most fatalities from the new coronavirus of any country, according to Johns Hopkins University.

A running tally from the US-based university showed that the number of deaths surged to over 20,000 in the US, while nearly 19,500 people had lost their lives in Italy, which previously bore the grim record for the highest death toll during the global pandemic.

Different population sizes, reporting standards and approaches to testing make comparisons between countries difficult, and the true number of infections is likely higher, in part owing to testing shortages. Similarly, the death tolls might be greater, Deutsche press agency (dpa) reported.

In the US - which has by far the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases globally, with some 522,300 infections - New York remains the hardest-hit state, with more cases than any other country in the world.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said 783 more people had died, which was consistent with the daily death toll in recent days, taking the total number of deaths in the state to more than 8,600.

"You can see that the number is somewhat stabilizing, but it is stabilizing at a horrific rate," Cuomo said during a daily press conference. "These are just incredible numbers, depicting incredible loss and pain."