More than 18,000 Americans now dead from coronavirus as the infection number increases to 490,000 – as updated projections show TODAY will be peak death day with an estimated 1,900 fatalities

• The death had increased to more than 18,000 by Friday with 1,322 death recorded in 24 hours 
• There are now more than 490,000 confirmed coronavirus infections across the country after cases increase by nearly 21,000 overnight
• Updated projections show Friday will be the peak day for coronavirus deaths 
• The new estimates brought forward the peak day of deaths by two days to April 10 with 1,983 people predicted to die from the coronavirus 
• The projections were released on Friday by forecasters at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation 
• Peak resource use for hospitals is predicted to occur on Saturday where an estimated 86,379 beds, 17,707 ICU beds and 15,414 ventilators will be needed 
• Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID

More than 18,000 Americans have now died from coronavirus after the death toll increased by 1,300 in 24 hours – as updated projections show today will be the peak day for fatalities amid the pandemic.

The new estimates brought forward the peak day of deaths by two days to April 10 with 1,983 people predicted to die from the coronavirus on Friday.    

The projections were released on Friday by forecasters at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation – a model often cited by the White House coronavirus task force. 

Peak resource use for hospitals is predicted to occur on Saturday – the day after the peak death toll – where an estimated 86,379 beds, 17,707 ICU beds and 15,414 ventilators will be needed. 

The total death toll from the pandemic is now expected to be 61,000 by August, according to the projections.  

The death had increased to more than 18,000 by Friday with 1,322 death recorded in 24 hours.   

The new estimates brought forward the peak day of deaths by two days to April 10 with 1,983 people predicted to die from the coronavirus on Friday

Peak resource use for hospitals is predicted to occur on Saturday – the day after the peak death toll – where an estimated 86,379 beds, 17,707 ICU beds and 15,414 ventilators will be needed

The total death toll from the pandemic is now expected to be 61,000 by August, according to the projections

There are now more than 490,000 confirmed coronavirus infections across the country after cases increase by nearly 21,000 overnight. 

Deaths in New York state, which remains the epicenter of the US outbreak, increased by 777 on Friday, bringing the total to 7,844. 

The number of cases in the state rose by 10,575 overnight, bringing the total number of infections to 170,512.     

It comes as new US government figures show that a spike in coronavirus infections will occur in the summer if the current lockdown measures are lifted after 30 days as planned. 

About 95 percent of the US remain on some form of lockdown after President Donald Trump issued guidelines that called for 30 days of measures to slow the spread of the virus.

The government projections, obtained by the New York Times, indicate that lifting the strict social distancing measures now in place will see a second wave surge in infections and deaths in about June and July. 

If the current shelter-in-place orders are lifted on May 30, the death total is estimated to reach 200,000, according to the projections obtained from the departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services.  

The death toll could reach 300,000 without any restrictions imposed to contain coronavirus – including school closings, shelter-in-place orders and social distancing.

Fatalities could reach 200,000 if the 30 day lockdown is lifted, schools remain closed until summer, 25 percent of the country continues working from home and some social distancing continues.

The projections, which are dated April 9, do not have dates for when shelter-in-place orders were delivered or specific dates for when spikes would hit.  

The measures currently in place have seen most people isolating at home, schools shutter and businesses close down through at least the end of April.  

White House officials said on Thursday they believe the US economy could start to reopen for normal business in May, despite health experts urging for continued social distancing measures to defeat the coronavirus.  

Public health experts, including top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci, say the measures are needed to control the fast-spreading virus.

Dr Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus taskforce, on Friday warned it was too early to relax the lockdown  even though hard-hit spots like New York are showing positive results in the battle against coronavirus. 

The government projections indicate that lifting the strict social distancing measures now in place will see a surge in infections. The yellow depicted in the above graph assumes some social distancing is kept in place after the 30 days. The red in the graph assumes not additional measures are put in place after 30 days.    

If the current shelter-in-place orders are lifted on May 30, the death total is estimated to reach 200,000, according to the projections obtained from the departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services

‘What we’re seeing right now is favorable signs,’ Fauci said in an interview on CNN on Friday. 

‘We would want to see a clear indication that you were very, very clearly and strongly going in the right direction, because the one thing you don’t want to do is you don’t want to get out there prematurely and then wind up back in the same situation.

‘Now is no time to back off.’ 

Dr Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned that if the US ‘prematurely’ ends social distancing measures ‘you’re right back in the same situation’.

‘The virus kind of decides whether or not it’s going to be appropriate to open,’ he said.

He said the number of new cases appeared to flattening the curve given hospitalizations and patients on ventilators in New York had decreased.  

‘We’re going in the right direction, let’s keep in that direction,’ Dr Fauci said. 

‘Obviously we’re looking for the kinds of things that would indicate that we can go forward in a gradual way to essentially reopen the country to a more normal way,’ Fauci said, adding that it depended on a number of factors.   

Bodies are moved to and from refrigerated morgue trailers at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn

A number of bodies were loaded into a refrigerated morgue truck in Brooklyn on Friday

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