It took a month from the first confirmed death for the United States to record 1,000 deaths. That toll number doubled in just two days as infections have risen rapidly. Medical and scientific officials have been warning the worst is yet to come. The actual number of infections is almost certainly much larger because only a fraction of 1 percent of Americans have been tested, far behind countries such as South Korea and Italy.
Amid fears that bodies could spread the disease, refrigerated trucks, tents and “a pop-up morgue” are being deployed to store the overload. Hospital chaplains are delivering last rites through video chat or by standing outside patients’ doors.