The United States has nearly 100,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University (AFP Photo/Angela Weiss)

Washington (AFP) - The United States now has nearly 100,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and there have been 1,475 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker.

There are 97,028 declared virus cases in the country, the Baltimore-based school said at 1900 GMT on Friday, an increase of nearly 18,000 cases over the same time on Thursday.

Johns Hopkins reported that there have been 1,475 deaths from coronavirus, an increase of 345 deaths over the number reported 24 hours previously.

The largest cluster of cases in the United States is in New York City, the university said, with 25,573 cases and 366 deaths.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Friday that he expects the epidemic won't peak in his state for another three weeks.

The worst-hit countries in terms of numbers of cases after the United States are Italy, China and Spain, according to Johns Hopkins.