New York, April 10 (RHC)-- Coronavirus cases are surging across the United States, the epicenter of the pandemic, with one person dying of COVID-19 every 47 seconds. 

Nearly 16,700 coronavirus deaths have been recorded in the United States, with the number of confirmed cases approaching half a million — more than Italy, Spain and France combined. 

The true rate of infections is certain to be far higher due to a critical lack of testing.

In New York, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has topped 160,000, with a record 799 deaths reported in just 24 hours — although that doesn’t include scores of people who died in their homes over the same period.  The pace of deaths in New York now exceeds any country in the world except the United States as a whole.