20,000: US death toll overtakes Italy's as Midwest braces

The U.S. has recorded nearly 20,000 deaths from the coronavirus, overtaking Italy for the highest death toll in the world.

About half of the deaths in the United States happened in New York state, but fear is mounting over the spread of the virus into the nation’s heartland.

Hot spots of contagion are erupting in the Midwest, including nursing home deaths in Indiana and Iowa and deaths at the Cook County Jail in Chicago.

Cook County has also set up a temporary morgue that can take more than 2,000 bodies.

Globally, confirmed infections rose above 1.7 million.