US hospitals are preparing for 96 MILLION coronavirus infections and nearly HALF A MILLION deaths, leaked documents reveal

• Almost half a million (480,000) Americans are expected to die from coronavirus 
• 4.8 million will be hospitalized and 96 million infected
• Figures come from leaked slides from a presentation by Dr. James Lawler, a University of Nebraska Medical Center professor and hosted by AHA
• They show the spread of the deadly disease could be far worse than officials claim, with the crisis 10 times greater than a severe flu season
• The shock figures fly in the face of claims made by President Trump who has maintained on many occasions that the risk to Americans is 'low'
• Lawler estimated people with heart conditions have a one in 10 chance of dying from the disease, compared to less than one in a 100 among healthy individuals 
• Trump signed a spending bill to allocate $8.3 billion to tackle the crisis Friday
• US has around 300 cases and 17 confirmed deaths, after Florida confirmed its first two deaths Friday

By RACHEL SHARP FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 03:20 GMT, 7 March 2020 | UPDATED: 13:00 GMT, 7 March 2020

US hospitals are preparing for 96 million coronavirus infections and nearly half a million deaths from the outbreak, leaked documents have revealed.

The spread of the deadly disease could be far worse than officials claim, with 480,000 Americans expected to die from the virus and 4.8 million hospitalized, according to a presentation hosted by The American Hospital Association (AHA) in February.

This puts the crisis on a level more than 10 times greater than that seen in a severe flu season.

The shock figures fly in the face of claims made by President Trump who has maintained on many occasions that the risk to Americans is 'low'.

Dr. James Lawler, a professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, presented the harrowing 'best guess' estimates of the extent of the outbreak to hospitals and health professionals as part of the AHA webinar called 'What healthcare leaders need to know: Preparing for the COVID-19' on February 26. 

The slides, obtained by Business Insider, suggest that hospitals need to ramp up preparations now to reduce the death toll around the US. 

At the time of the presentation last week, there were more than 80,000 confirmed cases around the globe.

In the US there were around 60 cases and no deaths.

Fast forward just one week, and the US has around 700 cases and 17 confirmed deaths. 

Worldwide, more than 100,000 people have now been infected.

The leaked slides also reveal the significant risks to older people and those with pre-existing health conditions if they catch coronavirus.  

People aged 80 and over have a 14.8% chance of dying if they contract the infection, the slides revealed.

The risk declines with youth, though those aged 70-79 and 60-69 are still placed at a significant risk, with 8% and 3.6% mortality rates respectively.