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(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead."

Dire predictions on Tuesday from President Donald Trump, who warned Americans they were in for a "very tough two weeks" that could see at least 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus in the United States.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"We're going to go through a very tough two weeks. And, then, hopefully, as the experts are predicting, as - I think - a lot of us are predicting after having studied it so hard, you're going to start seeing some real light at the end of the tunnel. But this is going to be a very painful... very, very painful two weeks. When you look and see at night the kind of death that's been cause by this invisible enemy, it's incredible."

The president's tone appeared more solemn Tuesday, as he and his task force advisers urged Americans to follow the now 30-day federal social distancing guidelines.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

"Think of what would've happened if we didn't do anything. I mean, I've had many friends, business people... people with great, actually, common sense. They said: 'Why don't we ride it out?' A lot of people have said... a lot of people have thought about it. 'Ride it out. Don't do anything. Just ride it out and think of it as the flu.' But it's not the flu. It's vicious."

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said on Tuesday it aims to build hundreds of temporary hospitals to ease pressure on medical centers struggling to keep up with a surge of coronavirus patients, after a record 700 deaths in a single day, pushing the U.S. coronavirus death toll past 3,700, more than the number killed in the September 11th attacks.

In New York, bodybags were seen being loaded into a truck outside the Brooklyn Hospital Center.

In Manhattan's Central Park, a makeshift overflow hospital - built in 48 hours - was set to begin accepting patients suffering from the coronavirus. And the U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort was docked and ready to accept NON-coronavirus patients on Tuesday.

On the other side of the country, the Navy Hospital ship Mercy was already taking in non-coronavirus patients, providing relief to stretched hospitals in Los Angeles.

And, while the U.S. military has aided the coronavirus response efforts, one Navy aircraft carrier has been hit with an outbreak.

The captain of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, in a blunt letter describing a bleak situation on board his ship, called on Navy leadership for stronger measures to save the lives of his sailors, warning that the nuclear-powered carrier lacked enough quarantine and isolation facilities.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that nearly 80 people aboard the ship had tested positive for the coronavirus, a number likely to increase as all personnel on the ship are tested.

In the letter dated Monday, the captain called for removing over 4,000 sailors from the ship and isolating them, saying: "We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset - our sailors."