The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus climbed past 3,500 Tuesday, eclipsing China's official count.

New York's mammoth convention center started taking patients to ease the burden on the city's overwhelmed health system and the tennis center where the U.S. Open is held was being turned into a hospital.

Worldwide, more than 800,000 people have been infected and over 39,000 people have died, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. Italy and Spain accounted for half the deaths, while the U.S. had around 3,550 by midday, eclipsing China's official toll of about 3,300.

New York was the nation's deadliest hot spot, with about 1,550 deaths statewide, the majority of them in New York City.

Source: AP