The mounting death toll from the virus outbreak in the United States had it poised Tuesday to overtake China's grim toll of 3,300 deaths, with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo saying up to 1 million more healthcare workers were needed.
"Please come help us," he urged.
Hard-hit Italy and Spain have already overtaken China and now account for more than half of the nearly 38,000 COVID-19 deaths worldwide, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.
But the World Health Organization warned Tuesday that while attention has shifted to epicenters in Western Europe and North America, the coronavirus pandemic was far from over in Asia.
"This is going to be a long-term battle and we cannot let down our guard," said Dr Takeshi Kasai, the WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific. "We need every country to keep responding according to their local situation."
"To me, we're beyond staggering already."
"Challenging times are ahead for the next 30 days, and this is a very vital 30 days," President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday. "The more we dedicate ourselves today, the more quickly we will emerge on the other side of the crisis."
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