New York state recorded 731 new coronavirus deaths, marking its biggest single-day jump, AP quoted Gov Andrew Cuomo as saying on Tuesday.

The state's death toll since the beginning of the outbreak last month rose to 5,489.

The alarming surge in deaths comes even as new hospital admissions have dropped on average over several days, a possible harbinger of the outbreak finally levelling off. Cuomo said the death tally is a lagging indicator that reflects the loss of critically ill people hospitalised earlier.

"That's 731 people who we lost. Behind every one of those numbers is an individual. There's a family, there's a mother, there's a father, there's a sister, there's a brother. So a lot of pain again today for many New Yorkers," Cuomo said at a briefing at the state Capitol.