Commuters wear face masks for protection against the coronavirus as they ride the M train, Friday, April 10, 2020, in New York. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus surged past 100,000 Friday as the epidemic in the U.S. cut a widening swath through not just New York City but the entire three-state metropolitan area of 20 million people connected by a tangle of subways, trains and buses.
In the bedroom communities across the Hudson River in New Jersey, to the east on Long Island and north to Connecticut, officials were recording some of the worst outbreaks in the country, even as public health authorities expressed optimism that the pace of infections appeared to be slowing.
As of Friday, the New York metropolitan area accounted for more than half the nation's over 18,500 deaths, with other hot spots in places such as Detroit, Louisiana and Washington, D.C.
'œOnce it gets into the city, there are so many commuters and travel, it gets everywhere," said Matt Mazewski, a Columbia University economics student who tried to get away from the epicenter by leaving his apartment near the New York City campus for his parents' house in Long Valley, New Jersey.
Confirmed infections reached about 1.7 million worldwide, while they surpassed half a million in the U.S., according to a Johns Hopkins University count.
The U.S. is on track to overtake Italy as the country with the highest number of dead, though the true figures on infections and lives lost around the world are believed be much higher because of limited testing, government cover-ups and different counting practices.
In places such as New York, Italy and Spain, for example, many victims who died outside a hospital - say, in a house or a nursing home - have not been included in the count.
With Christians around the world heading into Easter weekend, public health officials and religious leaders alike urged people to stay home, warning that violating lockdowns and social distancing rules could cause the virus to come storming back. Authorities in Europe put up roadblocks, used helicopters and drones, and cited drivers who had no good reason to be out.
Even in places where the crisis seemed to be easing, the daily death totals were hard to bear.
'œI understand intellectually why it's happening,'ť said Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, where deaths rose by 777, to more than 7,800. 'œIt doesn't make it any easier to accept.'ť
But New York officials also said the number of people in intensive care dropped for the first time since mid-March and hospitalizations were slowing: 290 new patients in a single day, compared with daily increases of more than 1,000 last week. Cuomo said that if the trend holds, New York might not need the overflow field hospitals that officials have been scrambling to build.
New Jersey's outbreaks began with the state's first confirmed infection, in a man who commuted between New York and his Fort Lee apartment. The virus is now in all 21 New Jersey counties.
Some suburbs had an infection rate even higher than New York City's, including Rockland County, where the rate was double.
As of Friday, Nassau County, on New York's Long Island, had over 700 deaths. Bergen County, New Jersey, and Westchester County, New York, had around 400 each. Essex County, New Jersey, and Suffolk County, New York, both recorded more than 350. Fairfield County, Connecticut, had about 180.
Officials said many Connecticut infections can be traced to cases in New York's Westchester County.
'œThis is a virus that knows no borders,'ť Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said last month.
For several days, two of the globe's other worst-hit places, Italy and Spain, reported that new infections, hospitalizations and deaths have been leveling off even as the daily death tolls remain shocking.
Spain recorded 605 more deaths, its lowest figure in more than two weeks, bringing its overall toll to more than 15,800. Italy reported 570 additional deaths for a total of more than 18,800.
With some signs of hope emerging, questions intensified about when restrictions might be loosened. Spain said factories and construction sites could resume work Monday, while schools, most shops and offices will remain closed. In Italy, there were pleas to restart manufacturing.
Though U.S. President Donald Trump insisted he would not lift restrictions until it's safe, he announced an 'œOpening our Country'ť task force and said, 'œI want to get it open as soon as possible.'ť
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that easing restrictions prematurely could 'œlead to a deadly resurgence.'ť
Italy, Ireland and Greece were among the countries extending lockdown orders into May.
As the threat receded in some places, it increased elsewhere. In the U.S., Michigan announced 205 new deaths Friday, its highest daily total, up from 117 a day earlier. In Europe, Britain recorded 980 new deaths, likewise a one-day high, for close to 9,000 dead in all.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson remained hospitalized with the virus but was out of intensive care. His father, Stanley Johnson, said the prime minister needs to 'œrest up'ť before returning to work.
On Good Friday, some churches worldwide held services online, while others arranged prayers at drive-in theaters.
In Paris, services were broadcast from a nearly empty, closed-to-the-public Notre Dame Cathedral, still heavily scarred from a fire a year ago. In Warsaw, Poland, priests wearing masks heard confessions in a parking lot. And in New Orleans, the Catholic archbishop sprinkled holy water from the Jordan River from a biplane traveling overhead.
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Sedensky reported from Philadelphia and Catalini from Morrisville, Pa. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.
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Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
Known as The Lighted Cross Church, Excelsior Lutheran Church near Wilson, Kan., is dark, Friday, April 10, 2020. The church is not holding their normal Good Friday service during the coronavirus outbreak. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
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Health workers cry during a memorial for their co-worker Esteban, a male nurse that died of the coronavirus disease, at the Severo Ochoa Hospital in Leganes in Leganes, Spain, Friday, April 10, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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Pope Francis presides over the Via Crucis ' or Way of the Cross ' ceremony in St. Peter's Square empty of the faithful following Italy's ban on gatherings to contain coronavirus contagion, at the Vatican, Friday, April 10, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
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Health workers cry during a memorial for their co-worker Esteban, a male nurse that died of the coronavirus disease, at the Severo Ochoa Hospital in Leganes in Leganes, Spain, Friday, April 10, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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A boy wearing a mask as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus plays in front of a mural by artist Yuriel Pena titled "Marcha Hacia la Oscuridad," or Move Toward Darkness, in the patio of a home in Havana, Cuba, Friday, April 10, 2020. Pena said his latest murals show humanity's powerlessness against the COVID-19 disease. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
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A Jewish family prays on the balcony of their apartment during a lockdown aimed to stop the spread of the coronavirus, in the costal city of Ashkelon, Israel, Friday, April 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
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A civic worker sprays disinfectant on beds at a special temporary hospital facility for COVID-19 patients in Mumbai, India, Friday, April 10, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)
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In this photo taken on Wednesday, April 8, 2020, chocolate rabbits with face masks are lined up at the Cocoatree chocolate shop in Lonzee, Belgium. As all non-essential shops in Belgium have been closed due to the outbreak of COVID-19, many chocolatiers have had to resort to online sales, home delivery or pick up on site. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
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A commuter, wearing a mask as a preventive measure against the spread of the coronavirus, travels on a metro train in Istanbul, Friday, April 10, 2020.The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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A man wearing protective mask walks in Paris Friday April 10, 2020, during a nationwide confinement to counter the COVID-19. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
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A medical staff tends to a patient affected by COVID-19 virus in the ICU unit at the Ambroise Pare clinic in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, Friday, April 10, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
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Workers in protective body suits walk past sinks for hand washing at the "Corabastos," one of Latin America's largest food distribution centers, as they work to disinfect it to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus in Bogota, Colombia, Friday, April 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
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A priest walks during a Stations of the Cross, in an empty Santa Maria Cathedral during Good Friday after celebrations and services were cancelled due to the outbreak of coronavirus, in Pamplona, northern Spain, Friday, April 10, 2020. COVID-19 causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)
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A man wears a piece of cloth as a face mask to avoid spread of the new coronavirus at a street market in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, April 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
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A passenger infected with the new coronavirus disembarks from the Australian cruise ship Greg Mortimer, at the port in Montevideo, Uruguay, Friday, April 10, 2020. Uruguay evacuated Australians and New Zealanders Friday from the cruise ship that has been anchored off the South American country's coast since March 27 with more than half of its passengers and crew infected with the new coronavirus, officials said. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)
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