Washington, April 6 (RHC)-- The global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has topped 70,000 with over 1.3 million confirmed cases.  The U.S. has by far the highest number of known cases, with over 336,000 reported, as the country’s official death toll approaches 10,000.

In the U.S., public health and medical experts say the true number of COVID-19 fatalities in the U.S. is much higher than reported due to inconsistent protocols on reporting, early failures to identify COVID-19, and unreported deaths in victims’ homes. 

The Pentagon said it is ordering 100,000 body bags which demand increasing from morgues around the country.  As hospitals around the country continue to report dire equipment and staffing shortages, Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned Sunday the weeks ahead would be the toughest in the fight against the pandemic.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams: “This is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans’ lives, quite frankly.  This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment, only it’s not going to be localized.  It’s going to be happening all over the country.”

Over 90% of U.S. residents are now under some type of stay-at-home order.  North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Arkansas and Iowa are the remaining states that have no such measures either on a local or state-wide level. 
The White House’s top medical expert on the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Sunday somewhere between 25 and 50% of people with COVID-19 could be asymptomatic.