US coronavirus death toll exceeds 70,000: study

The death toll in the US from the novel coronavirus has surpassed the 70,000 mark, according to data Tuesday compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The university in the state of Maryland running tally counted 70,115 deaths and 1,192,119 cases.

The US continues to lead worldwide cases and deaths from the virus. Italy registered 29,315 deaths, followed by Spain with 25,428.

More than 187,000 patients have recovered in the US, according to the data.

New York is the worst-hit state with 25,073 deaths and more than 321.000 cases, followed by New Jersey with 8,244 deaths and an excess of 130,600 cases.

The bulk of deaths came two days after President Donald Trump said the US could see up to 100,000 coronavirus fatalities.

"I used to say 65,000, and now I’m saying 80 or 90 and it goes up and it goes up rapidly," said Trump Sunday.

In mid-April, he said up to 65,000 people would die from the pandemic, a lower figure than White House experts predicted.

In late March, the doctor leading the White House's coronavirus response team, Deborah Birx, presented a model for the potential number of deaths.

It showed between 100,000 and 240,000 could die if the US follows social distancing and public health guidelines. Without any intervention, it forecast 1.5 to 2 million deaths.

Since the virus emerged last December in the Chinese city of Wuhan, it has spread to at least 187 countries and regions.

There are more than 3.6 million confirmed infections globally with more than 254,400 deaths, while nearly 1.1 million patients have recovered.