US coronavirus outbreak soon to be deadlier than any flu since 1967

US deaths from the novel coronavirus topped 60,000 on Wednesday and the outbreak will soon be deadlier than any flu season since 1967.

The United States has the world's highest coronavirus death toll and a daily average of 2,000 people died in April of COVID-19. It has so far recorded as many as 10,30,487 cases, with a death toll of 60,853.

The only deadlier flu seasons were in 1967 when about 1,00,000 Americans died; in 1957 when 1,16,000 died and the Spanish flu of 1918 when 6,75,000 died, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

America's worst flu season in recent years was in 2017-2018 when more than 61,000 people died.

The first US death was recorded on February 6, with the virus circulating weeks earlier than previously thought.

On Tuesday, COVID-19 deaths in the United States eclipsed in a few months the 58,220 Americans killed during 16 years of US military involvement during the Vietnam War. Cases topped 1 million.

It is estimated that the outbreak could take nearly 73,000 US lives by August 4, compared with an April 22 forecast of over 67,600, according to the University of Washington's predictive model, often cited by White House officials.

In early March, the prospect that the coronavirus would kill more Americans than the flu was unthinkable to many. President Donald Trump tweeted on March 9: "So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!"

On March 11, top US infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci, however, warned Congress that the coronavirus was at least 10 times more lethal than the seasonal flu.

There is as yet no treatment or vaccine for coronavirus while flu vaccines are widely available along with treatments.