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U.S. President Donald Trump attends a COVID-19 press conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., March 9, 2020. /Xinhua
A model by Donald Trump's administration projects a rise in the number of COVID-19 infections and fatalities in the coming weeks to hit up to 3,000 daily deaths in the U.S. by June 1, according to an internal document obtained by The New York Times.
The projections represent a worrying hike in the number of deaths from a figure of around 2,000 currently as seen in data from the John Hopkins University.
The projections are based on modeling from the federal Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, which were put together into charts and graphics by FEMA.
CNN reports an unnamed administration official to confirm the authenticity of the report obtained by the New York Times, which was distributed throughout relevant agencies over the weekend. The official cautioned that the numbers are projections at this point.
The U.S. is already the world most affected country by the pandemic, having recorded 1,170,719 infections and 68,046 deaths.
The figures represent nearly 32.8 percent of the global cases and 27.3 percent of the world's fatalities.
As the fight against the disease continues, the Trump administration is keen on reopening the country to avoid further shrinking of the economy.
On Monday, in the absence of the U.S., world leaders pledged some €7.4 billion towards research into a possible vaccine and treatments for COVID-19.
The pledges were made at a European Commission-hosted pledging conference attended via videoconference by leaders from at least 40 countries around the world.
The conference came less than 20 days after President Donald Trump instructed his administration to temporarily halt funding to the WHO.
(With input from CNN)