In US, New York City alone accounts for over 10,000 coronavirus deaths

Almost 4,000 people in New York City who never tested positive for coronavirus were presumed to have died from COVID-19, taking the death toll in the city to cross 10,000 on Tuesday.

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 saw the total number of deaths in the Big Apple, which quickly became America's coronavirus epicentre, soar to 10,367.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The probable deaths define someone "who had no known positive lab test but with a death certificate that lists as a cause of death 'COVID-19 or an equivalent'."

The "probable" numbers highlight a lack of widespread of testing for the virus.

Before the city updated its toll with the likely COVID-19 deaths, New York state had reported almost 11,000 fatalities.

New York state has borne the brunt of America's fast-spreading pandemic, accounting for almost half of fatalities from the crisis in the United States.

More than 25,400 people have died in the US, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University.