The United States is now officially the world’s coronavirus hot zone.
As deaths neared 1,300, the number of recorded cases overtook China and Italy.
The US now has more than 85,000 confirmed infections.
It is not only the elderly or people with existing medical issues at risk.
The CDC says nearly 40% of patients sick enough to be admitted to hospital are aged 20 to 54.
The spike in cases has grown in line with the ramping up of rapid testing.
Hardest hit by far is New York with the state reporting 100 deaths in a single day on Wednesday.
Hospital bed capacity is being stretched with temporary hospitals being set up at the Javits Center in Manhattan, the Westchester County Center in White Plains and two university dorm buildings on Long Island.
"Almost any scenario that is realistic will overwhelm the capacity of the current healthcare system," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
A new report from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle says the US healthcare system could be overwhelmed by mid-April and more than 80,000 could die by the summer.
