De Blasio: New York at the heart of national crisis

New York's Mayor Bill de Blasio warned on Tuesday city was in a "battle" to stop spre of coronavirus.

At a briefing in City Hall, mayor said New York was " epicenter of this crisis for this nation."

"People are recognizing and dealing with this new reality. Making tough choices and sacrifices," De Blasio said.

On Monday, U.S. saw its biggest jump yet in death toll from virus, with more than 700 American deaths w attributed to COVID-19.

U.S. is w more than a week into an unprecedented 15-day effort to encour all Americans to drastically scale back ir public activities.

While worst outbreaks are concentrated in certain parts of country, such as New York, experts warn that highly infectious disease is certain to spre.

For most people, new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.

For some, especially older ults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

pandemic has infected more than 417,000 people and killed over 18,600.

More than 107,000 people have recovered so far, mostly in China.