Shafaq News/ The number of coronavirus-linked deaths in New York City soared past 10,000 on Tuesday after officials said almost 4,000 people who never tested positive were presumed to have died from COVID-19.

The city’s health department announced that 3,778 people had probably succumbed to the illness — on top of the 6,589 confirmed fatalities.

The new figures, released at 4pm (1am Wednesday UAE), saw the total number of deaths in the Big Apple, which quickly became America’s coronavirus epicentre, soar to 10,367.

“While these data reflect the tragic impact that the virus has had on our city, they will also help us to determine the scale and scope of the epidemic and guide us in our decisions,” the city’s health commissioner, Oxiris Barbot, said.

The description of these likely deaths applies to a person "who did not have a positive test result, but his death certificate states that the cause of death is (Covid-19) or equivalent," according to the Health Department’s guidelines.

Half of the deaths from Corona virus in the United States are recorded in New York State alone.

Last week, New York Mayor Bill de Palacio admitted that the official number of deaths in the city may not reflect the true impact of the deadly epidemic.

He explained that many people who died in their homes were not counted as having died as a result of Covid-19, although this was probably the reason.

Additional deaths are also suspected to have occurred in nursing homes and other care facilities.

These "weighted" numbers reveal the great lack of large-scale testing for people with the virus.

Before the city updated its figures with the likely deaths, New York State reported that the number of deaths reached 11,000.

On the other hand, the number of infections whose cases necessitated their transfer to hospitals decreased, according to state governor Andrew Como, who confirmed that the worst stage of the epidemic was "over".

Days after accusations against the World Health Organization (WHO), US President Donald Trump made his promises, announcing decisive action on the organization whose performance is being debated in the face of the emerging Corona virus crisis.

On Tuesday, Trump announced that he had ordered his administration to freeze US funding for the international organization, saying it had committed mistakes that had caused the deaths of thousands.

The US President said, during his daily conference at the White House on Corona crisis, that the WHO provided false information obtained from China, which is spreading the virus on its soil.

He also considered that the organization was late to warn of the danger of Corona virus, and it also failed to obtain sufficient information, about Corona virus and spread it in a transparent manner.

Trump said the WHO must "carry out internal reforms."

The World Health Organization has repeatedly denied the US administration's accusations that it received a warning from Taiwan on December 31 stating that the virus circulating in China is spreading from human to human.

On the other hand, Trump stressed that his country is determined to continue its war against Corona virus, and pledged to help other countries in this matter.