Brazil saw its highest number of coronavirus deaths yet Tuesday as, more than four months after Covid-19 first emerged in China, the force of the pandemic was beginning to hit hard in Latin America.

In the US the outlook remained bleak, with a new modelling average released Tuesday suggesting virus deaths could surpass 113,000 by mid-June, underscoring America's status as the nation worst affected by the pandemic and piling more pressure on President Donald Trump.

Trump has fiercely defended his administration's response to the crisis, repeatedly deflecting blame for the virus's spread on to Beijing and the World Health Organisation.

Beijing hit back Tuesday, with the foreign ministry accusing the US of trying to "use China as an issue to shirk responsibility and bargain over its international obligations to the WHO".

With the row threatening the global response to the pandemic, WHO countries adopted a resolution calling for an "impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation" of the international response, and the measures taken by the agency.