US coronavirus death toll nears 15,000 mark

ANKARA

The U.S. is nearing the 15,000 mark for coronavirus-related fatalities Thursday, according to the data of Johns Hopkins University.

Still standing as the most virus-hit country in the world with more than 432,500 cases, the U.S. has recorded over 14,820 deaths.

It surpassed Spain with its tally earlier Thursday and had the second-highest death toll globally but new figures changed the order with 15,238 deaths in Spain.

In all, a total of 24,213 people have recovered from the pandemic.

The U.S. state of New York continues to be the epicenter with more than 6,200 deaths.

The bulk of the U.S. virus-related deaths came two days after President Donald Trump warned this week would be "very painful" for the country for coronavirus-related casualties.

"During this painful week, we see glimmers of very, very strong hope. This will be a very painful week…at least part of next week, probably," Trump said.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams also warned it would be a very hard week for the country.

"This is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans' lives. This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment and our 9/11 moment, only it's not going to be localized, it's going to be happening all over the country," he told Fox News Sunday.

Overall, the virus has spread to 184 countries, infecting 1.5 million people since it first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. The global death toll is approaching 90,000, while nearly 340,000 have recovered.