Get our daily coronavirus email newsletter with all the news you need to know direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A pastor has died from coronavirus after claiming "god is larger than this dreaded virus".

Bishop Gerald Glenn died just days after testing positive for Covid-19.

Before he was diagnosed with the virus, Glenn addressed a congregation New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Richmond, Virginia.

The state banned gatherings of ten or more people 24 hours later.

Glenn had diverticulitis, which inflames the intestines, according to daughter Mar-Gerie Crawley, who said it was not unusual for him to have fevers.

But his health worsened last Sunday and was put on a ventilator in hospital.

(Image: New Deliverance Evangelistic Church)

"They did the COVID-19 test on him and we got it back that day and it was positive," Crawley told local station WVTVR.

Glenn passed away on Saturday night. Mar-Gerie is now calling on people to stay indoors.

"It becomes very real to you," she said. "I just beg people to understand the severity and the seriousness of this, because people are saying it's not just about us, it's about everyone around us."

Glenn's wife, Marcietia, has also tested positive for the virus.

(Image: New Deliverance Evangelistic Church / Facebook)

The US overtook Italy on Saturday with the highest number of coronavirus deaths.

More than 21,600 have died from the disease in the country, with 551,000 confirmed cases.

The US also become the first country in the world to report more than 2,000 coronavirus deaths in a single day.

New figures show 2,108 deaths were recorded on Good Friday and the country's infection total surpassed half a million.

New York has the worst outbreak inside the US, with almost 175,000 confirmed cases and more than 5,800 deaths in New York City alone, according to the latest tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Americans were urged to avoid church gatherings over the Easter period.

Experts on Donald Trump's Covid-19 task force said there are signs the outbreak is starting to level off across the US.

Dr Deborah Birx said: "As encouraging as they are, we have not reached the peak.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, and other health officials pointed to declining rates of coronavirus hospitalisations and admissions to intensive care units - particularly in hard-hit New York state - as signs that social distancing measures are paying off.

"Now is no time to back off," Dr Fauci told CNN.

He said "the virus will decide" when the country can begin to reopen from state-at-home orders imposed in recent weeks across 42 states, he added.