The U.S. reported 1,885 coronavirus deaths Tuesday, the highest single-day death toll recorded in the country.
The total death toll reached 12,895 as of Tuesday night as COVID-19 cases stood at 398,809, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University.
More than 22,000 others have recovered from the disease.
The bulk of the deaths came hours after President Donald Trump warned that this week will be "very painful" for the U.S. in terms of coronavirus-related casualties.
"During this painful week, we see glimmers of very, very strong hope. This will be a very painful week…at least part of next week, probably," said Trump at a White House coronavirus task force briefing.
On Sunday, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned this week will be very hard for the country.
"This is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans' lives. This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment and our 9/11 moment, only it's not going to be localized, it's going to be happening all over the country," he told Fox News Sunday.
New York is the state worst-hit by the pandemic with more than 5,400 deaths. There are more than 138,000 confirmed cases in the state.
The U.S. has become the country with the most confirmed coronavirus infections in the world, followed by Spain, Italy and Germany.
Since the virus emerged last December in the Chinese city of Wuhan, it has spread to at least 184 countries and regions.
There are more than 1.4 million confirmed infections worldwide and more than 82,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins. More than 301,000 have recovered.
