The US has become the first country in the world to record more than 2,000 deaths from the coronavirus in a single day, and the number of infections across America has now topped 500,000.
Stark figures show that 2,028 Americans died from coronavirus in a single day on Friday, taking the death toll to almost 19,000.
As the nation mourns its darkest day on record during the pandemic, the total number of Americans infected skyrocketed past half a million.
The death toll increased to 18,798 Friday and infections reached 505,478, as another 35,579 Americans tested positive.
The US is on track to become the deadliest nation in the world amid the outbreak, as it rapidly edges closer to Italy’s death toll of 18,849.
In a matter of days, it has surpassed Spain’s death toll (16,081) which was previously hardest-hit after Italy.
Worldwide, more than 100,000 people have now been killed in the pandemic.