US sets a grim global record with 1,497 virus dead in one day

The US death toll skyrocketed to 8,503 by the end of Saturday, and the number of cases surged by 33,324 leaving 311,632 Americans infected by the killer virus.  

This marks the highest number of infections anywhere in the world. 

While the death toll in Italy (15,362) and Spain (11,947) is still higher, the US now dwarfs the hard-hit European nations' infections, with both Italy (124,632) and Spain (126,168) reporting only around a third of the number of infections across the US. 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo warned that the pandemic is 'like a fire spreading', as his state continues to be ravaged and ruined by the crisis. 

The gut-wrenching death toll comes as:

US infections reached almost three times that of the next hardest-hit countries Spain and Italy 

788 New Yorkers died from the virus in 24 hours as the city's fatalities make up a quarter of the US death toll

New York City prepares to wake up to 'D-Day' Sunday, when the Big Apple will find out if its medical supplies are going to hold up as the outbreak reaches its peak

Shocking images show body bags containing the latest victims of the killer virus spilling out into the corridors of the city's hospitals

The NYPD is on its knees with 18,000 members testing positive and 10 dead

NY Gov Cuomo said the pandemic was like a 'fire spreading' as more states emerge as new epicenters

Louisiana has become a key concern with New Orleans patients dying at twice the rate per capita as in New York

Michigan now has more cases that California with 12,744  

President Trump told Americans to prepare for the 'toughest week' next week

The president also said the NFL would kick off soon and that he didn't want the country shut down for 'months and months' 

The US' epicenter for the outbreak is yet to reach its 'apex' but its hospitals and morgues are near breaking point already.

New York state's death toll surged to 3,565 Saturday as another 788 New Yorkers died from the virus, marking the biggest one-day toll there yet. 

The number of new cases in the state reached 10,675 and the total number of infections topped 113,833, higher than the number of infections in the whole of hard-hit Spain. 

New York City alone made up 387 of the state's 788 new deaths. 

Bodies are seen lying in corridors inside the Wyckoff Hospital as the healthcare system is overwhelmed with fatalities 

New York City hospitals continue to be overwhelmed with the mounting bodies, with shocking images emerging of body bags containing the latest victims of the killer virus spilling out into the corridors at Wyckoff Hospital in Brooklyn

New York City alone made up 387 of the state's 788 new deaths, and more than half of the US's daily deaths from coronavirus. The makeshift morgue outside Wyckoff hospital in Brooklyn contains the latest victims of the killer illness

The body of a dead coronavirus patient is seen being moved in an orange body bag from Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn to a refrigerator truck being used as temporary morgue 

In total, the city's 2,254 fatalities account for more than a quarter of all coronavirus deaths across the 50 states. 

The rate of new cases also showed no sign of slowing, with 6,147 recorded Saturday taking the number of infections to a staggering 63,306.   

Long Island is seeing a spike in cases, with Cuomo warning that it 'is the area that is growing'. 

More than 13,000 cases have been confirmed in Nassau County, as questions are being asked whether wealthy New Yorkers fleeing the city to retreat to holiday homes there could have triggered the spread.  

New York City hospitals continue to be overwhelmed with the mounting bodies, with shocking images emerging of body bags containing the latest victims of the killer virus spilling out into the corridors at Wyckoff Hospital in Brooklyn.  

As the number of dead rises, funeral homes have reported becoming 'overwhelmed' with the grim death tally and bodies are now lying for days in refrigerated trucks outside hospitals. 

Crematories have extended their hours and burned bodies into the night, as city officials were looking elsewhere in the state for temporary interment sites.

Because of the risk of infection, many people with critically ill relatives in New York City are unable to see their loved ones in their final hours.

A resident at New York-Presbyterian hospital said he and his colleagues have made several death notification phone calls every shift this week.

'There's something sort of unquantifiably painful about telling a family their loved one died without letting them see them,' he said.

Funerals cannot be held due to social distancing guidelines meaning loved ones are left mourning them from afar. 

Doctors at the Brooklyn Hospital Center told how they are buckling under the strain of the pandemic, with its ICU overflowing desperately trying to save people of all ages.

Dr. Joshua Rosenberg, a critical care doctor, told the New York Times its ICU had more than doubled in size in the last week, turning the chemotherapy infusion unit into a spillover unit in order to take on the growing number of people in a critical condition. 

Concerns are mounting that there will soon be a shortage of life-saving ventilators. 

The hospital temporarily ran out of protective plastic gowns, the main sedative for patients on ventilators and key blood pressure medication, reported the New York Times. 

Shortages of gowns and PPE are such a concern, there is no chance of changing in between patients.

Nurses putting their names on protective clothing to be worn many times resting outside the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn, NYC

An NYC healthcare worker empties a trashcan containing contents that includes used PPE as hospitals risk running out of the critical supplies

A trash can is full of used masks and gloves outside Wyckoff Hospital in Brooklyn. Another hospital in Brooklyn said it temporarily ran out of gowns Saturday

Around a third of medical staff were also out of work sick as Cuomo again begged for more medical professionals to come to New York and support it in its hours of need. 

He announced that he will sign an executive order to allow medical students who were slated to graduate this spring to begin practicing now.     

Trump announced Saturday that he will be sending 1,000 extra medical personnel from the armed forces to New York.

On Friday, all cell phones in the city were issued an emergency alert calling on all healthcare workers to aid in medical facilities if they can. 

About 85,000 medical workers have answered the cry for help, with 22,000 traveling from out of state to work in the epicenter.

Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, has been set up as a field hospital for coronavirus patients

A bed in the field hospital. New Orleans is recording a higher death rate per capita than New York

The city teeters on the brink of collapse with this Sunday, April 5, deemed 'D-Day' for the city when it will reveal whether supplies are going to hold up as the outbreak in the Big Apple reaches its peak. 

Cuomo has already stressed that hospitals in the city have just a few days left before they will run out of ventilators. 

Oregon loaned the state 140 ventilators, the governor said Saturday. 

The situation will only get more dire with New York's apex, or the peak in the number of new daily cases, likely about a week away. 

'By the numbers, we're not yet at the apex. We're getting closer depending whose model you're looking at,' said Cuomo. 'We're somewhere in the seven day range.'  

The city's essential workforce is falling victim to the pandemic, with more than 1,800 NYPD members testing positive for the virus.

On Friday, almost 7,000 uniformed officers called in sick. 

By Saturday, ten NYPD members had died from coronavirus, with Police Commissioner Dermot Shea announcing the tragic deaths of veteran schools safety agent Luis Albino and Auxiliary Police Lt. Pierre Moise on Friday.

A medic of the Elmhurst Hospital Center medical team reacts after stepping outside of the emergency room on Saturday in Queens, New York City

In Detroit, the TCF convention center has been converted into a field hospital. Detroit now has the most deaths of any US metro area other than New York City

Both had served more than 20 years in the force. 

As the nation looks on in despair, other states are fast on track to become the new deadly hotspots. 

'It is like a fire spreading,' Cuomo warned Saturday, of the alarming spread of the virus from the New York City epicenter. 'The fire, it doesn't max out in one place, but it consumes where it is and it's moving out.' 

Michigan now has more cases than California, with 12,744 in Michigan and 12,603 in California. Outside of New York City, Detroit is the metro area with the highest death toll, with 223 dead in Wayne County. 

Louisiana has become a key concern as it reported a jump in deaths to 409 on Saturday.

The Gulf state's largest city, New Orleans, where Mardi Gras celebrations in late February are believed to have helped spread the virus before social distancing orders were imposed, has become a focal point of the health crisis.

Patients in New Orleans are dying at twice the rate per capita as in New York.

Louisiana Governor John Edwards said he spoke with Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday - and that he had been promised an additional 200 ventilators from the national stockpile.