US could see 100,000-200,000 deaths from COVID-19: Top health expert

NIAID Director Anthony Fauci feels the US will have millions of cases

Trump-Mark-Esper-Hospital-ship-USNS-Comfort-AP President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Mark Esper, right, watch as the U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort pulls away from the pier at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia., Saturday, March 28, 2020 | AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

In a frightening warning, the US will see 100,000 to 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus, the Trump administration's topmost infection disease expert forecast on Sunday as the pandemic infected nearly 125,000 people in the country.

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci said in an interview on CNN that the US will certainly have millions of cases of COVID-19 and more than 100,000 deaths.

"Looking at what we are seeing now, I would say between 100,000-200,00 deaths from coronavirus."

"We're going to have millions of cases," he said.

"But I don't want to be held to that because the pandemic is such a moving target," Fauci added.

According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre, the US has 124,763 cases and witnessed 2,612 deaths as of Sunday morning.

A total of 2,612 patients have recovered, it said.

Globally, the number of COVID-19 cases stand at 684,652 and more than 32,000 people have died of the disease. 

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