WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump has warned that death toll in the country from the coronavirus outbreak could reach 100,000.

"Look, we're going to lose anywhere from 75, 80 to 100,000 people. That's a horrible thing. We shouldn't lose one person out of this," Trump said at a two-hour virtual "town hall" organized by Fox News on Sunday. US president also refuted claims that his administration had acted too slowly.

There have been 1.1 million confirmed cases and more than 67,000 deaths related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to the latest figures reported in the local media.

On Friday, the president said he hoped fewer than 100,000 Americans would die in the outbreak, and earlier last week spoke of 60,000 to 70,000 deaths.

On April 20, Trump said the figure could be 50,000 to 60,000 — by this point there had been 40,000 US deaths related to COVID-19.

Earlier on Sunday, Dr. Deborah Birx, who is coordinating the White House's response to the pandemic, said her predictions had consistently been that up to 240,000 Americans could die in the pandemic.

"Our projections have always been between 100,000 and 240,000 American lives lost, and that’s with full mitigation and us learning from each other of how to social distance," she told Fox News.

However, Trump expressed optimism about the development of a vaccine, suggesting one could be ready by the end of this year — although experts believe it will take 12 to 18 months.

"I think we're going to have a vaccine by the end of the year," he claimed. "The doctors would say, well you shouldn't say that. I'll say what I think... I think we'll a vaccine sooner rather than later." — Agencies