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Refrigerated tractor trailers serve as temporary morgues in New York City The US has become the first country in the world to record more than 2,000 coronavirus deaths in a single day. Figures from Johns Hopkins University show 2,108 people died in the past 24 hours while there are now more than half a million confirmed infections. US death toll passes 2,000 in a single day The US could soon surpass Italy as the country with the most coronavirus deaths worldwide. But experts on the White House Covid-19 task force say the outbreak is starting to level off across the US. Dr Deborah Birx said there were good signs the outbreak was stabilising, but cautioned: "As encouraging as they are, we have not reached the peak." President Donald Trump also said he expects the US to see a lower death toll than the initial predictions of 100,000 fatalities, adding: "We're seeing clear signs that our aggressive strategy is saving countless lives". In other developments: The World...

In Italy, an epicentre of the new coronavirus outbreak, the death rate at the end of March stood at a sobering 11%. Meanwhile in neighbouring Germany, the same virus led to fatality rates of just 1%. In China, it was 4%, while Israel had the lowest rate worldwide, at 0.35%. When the first Covid-19 case in Vò, Italy was confirmed, testing was rolled out to the entire village (Credit: theconversation news) At first it can seem surprising that the same virus – which doesn’t seem to have mutated significantly as it has spread – can lead to such widely differing reported mortality rates. And even within one country, the rate appears to change over time. So what’s going on? Covid-19 is markedly higher than elsewhere in the world, which is largely down to how cases are detected (Credit: Worldometer/BBC) Several main factors account for much of the difference we’re seeing – and perhaps the most important come down to simply how we’re counting, as well as testing, cases. Differing death rates F...