An American nurse who has fallen ill with coronavirus says the near-constant pain feels “worse than a gunshot.”

Shareka Williams, a nurse in Texas, filmed a clip from her hospital bed describing her symptoms for a Facebook post.

She works at Gallatin Center for Rehabilitation and Healing, according to the New York Post.

She told her followers "the virus is “no joke” as she described the effects of Covid-19 on her body,

"I never felt a gunshot, but this is probably worse than a gunshot,” she says in the clip.

“It hurts, and it hurts like hell. Sometimes God will take you out of your comfort zone. Right now, I trust God with my life.”

Ms Williams said that the virus had made it difficult for her to breathe without pain.

 “You can barely eat, you can barely walk. You can’t breathe because it hurts so bad,” she said.

In the clip, she warns Americans to follow social distancing measures to avoid catching and spreading the killer virus.

“Don’t wait before it’s too late,” Williams said. “Don’t wait for it to affect your family. Don’t wait for it to affect your children. Don’t wait for it to affect you.”

As the World Health Organisation confirmed the number of Covid-19 cases worldwide passed the one million mark this week, New York City is emerging as a new global epicentre.

Figures collated by Reuters show there have been 5,887 coronavirus deaths recorded in the United States so far, and 243,635 confirmed cases.

More than 2,000 deaths were recorded in New York state alone.

Makeshift hospitals are being built in NYC's boroughs, and a Navy Hospital medical ship is docked and ready to become a floating hospital for regular patients to avoid contact with coronavirus patients packing the city's hospitals.

At his daily White House briefing, US President Donald Trump said Americans should wear protective face masks if they wish.

The leader has faced criticism over his handling of the outbreak on US soil, after he downplayed the threat posed by Covid-19 by repeatedly comparing the new virus to seasonal influenza.

He has made use of the Korean War-era Defense Production Act to order companies to produce hospital ventilators and has said he will also use the law to get General Motors Co to produce more N-95 masks.

"We have over 100,000 (ventilators) being built right now or soon to be started," Trump said.