US coronavirus deaths top 1,000; Senate approves $2.2 trillion economic aid

US deaths from the coronavirus pandemic have topped 1,000, in another grim milestone for a global outbreak that is taking lives and wreaking havoc on economies and established routines of ordinary life.

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In a recognition of the scale of the threat, the US Senate late on Wednesday passed an unparalleled $2.2 trillion economic rescue package steering aid to businesses, workers and health care systems.

US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell attends a meeting to discuss an economic bill in Washington. AFP

The Senate's Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell, was expected to speak on the Senate floor shortly about the agreement.

The unanimous vote came despite misgivings on both sides about whether it goes too far or not far enough and capped days of difficult negotiations as Washington confronted a national challenge unlike it has ever faced. The 880-page measure is the largest economic relief bill in US history.

Worldwide, the death toll climbed past 21,000, according to a running count kept by Johns Hopkins University. The number of dead in the US rose to 1,041 as of late Wednesday, with nearly 70,000 infections.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (centre) leaves the offices at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Tuesday. AFP

Spain's death toll has risen past 3,400, eclipsing that of China where the virus was first detected in December, after a one-day spike of 700 fatalities. Spain's count is now second only to that of Italy, with over 7,500 deaths. Lidia Perera, a nurse at Madrid's 1,000-bed Hospital de la Paz, said more workers were desperately needed. "We are collapsing," Perera said.

The Spanish parliament voted to allow the government extend strict stay-at-home rules and business closings until April 11.

Such measures are becoming increasingly common in the US, where New York is the current epicenter of the domestic outbreak, accounting for more than 30,000 cases and close to 300 deaths, most of them in New York City.

A man wearing a face mask takes a walk on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade in New York. Angela Weiss/AFP

Public health officials in the city hunted down beds and medical equipment and put out a call for more doctors and nurses for fear the number of sick will explode in a matter of weeks, overwhelming hospitals as has happened in Italy and Spain.

A makeshift morgue was set up outside Bellevue Hospital, and the city's police, their ranks dwindling as more fall ill, were told to patrol nearly empty streets to enforce social distancing.

In Washington, President Donald Trump has called for Americans to dedicate themselves for 15 days to social distancing, including staying home from work and closing bars and restaurants to help try to stall the spread of the disease.

Yet, he's also grumbled that "our country wasn’t built to be shut down” and vowed not to allow "the cure be worse than the problem” - apparently concerned that the the outbreak's devastating effects on financial markets and employment will harm his chances for re-election later this year.

Agencies