The number of people in the US who have died from COVID-19 has surpassed the 4 000 mark, according to data released by Johns Hopkins University.
The university’s running tally counted 4 076 deaths.
The United States now has 189 618 confirmed cases, by far the highest of any country, ahead of Italy, Spain and China.
The new mark came hours after President Donald Trump warned that the next two weeks will be “very painful” in the US in terms of deaths from the coronavirus.
China’s National Health Commission reported 36 new COVID-19 cases, one day after announcing that asymptomatic cases will now be included in the official count.
The commission said all but one of the new cases was imported from abroad, while seven more deaths from the disease had been reported over the previous 24 hours. 
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has risen to 67 366 and 732 people have died of the disease, statistics from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Wednesday.
Cases rose by 5 453 compared with the previous day while the death toll climbed by 149.
The number of novel coronavirus cases in Pakistan has risen to 2,007 with more than 150 confirmed in the last 24 hours, officials said Wednesday.
The country’s death toll jumped to 26, while 12 patients are in critical condition.
More than 80% of the confirmed cases had recently returned from neighbouring Iran and Saudi Arabia.