The US death toll from the coronavirus on Saturday eclipsed Italy's for the highest in the world, surpassing 20,000, reports The Associated Press.
About half the deaths in the US are in the New York metropolitan area, where hospitalizations are nevertheless slowing and other indicators suggest lockdowns and social distancing are "flattening the curve" of infections and staving off the doomsday scenarios of just a week or two ago.
New York state on Saturday reported 783 more deaths, for a total of over 8,600. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the daily number of deaths is stabilizing, "but stabilizing at a horrific rate."
"What do we do now? We stay the course," added Cuomo, who like other leaders has warned that relaxing restrictions too soon could enable the virus to come back with a vengeance.
Also on Saturday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city's 1.1 million-student school system will remain closed for the rest of the academic year. Cuomo, however, said the decision is up to him, and no such determination has been made.
Elsewhere in the US, 24 residents of an Indiana nursing home hit by COVID-19 died, while a nursing home in Iowa saw 14 deaths.
In the Midwest, pockets of contagion have alarmed state and city leaders and led to stricter enforcement.
Nearly 300 inmates at the Cook County Jail have tested positive for the virus, and two have died. In Wisconsin, health officials expect to see an increase in cases after thousands of people went to the polls Tuesday for the state's presidential primary.
Michigan's governor extended a stay-at-home order with new provisions: People with multiple homes may no longer travel between them.
In Kansas, the state Supreme Court heard arguments in a dispute Saturday between Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and Republican lawmakers who overturned her executive order banning religious services and funerals with more than 10 people. New Mexico's governor expanded a ban on mass gatherings to include churches and other houses of worship.