Visitors gather on the beach in Newport Beach, California, US, during the coronavirus outbreak. AP

Americans sunbathed on beaches, fished from boats and strolled on boardwalks this holiday weekend, even as the US death toll from COVID-19 fast approaches 100,000.

The Memorial Day weekend that signals the start of the US summer is normally a time when cemeteries across the nation fill with American flags and ceremonies to remember those who died in US wars.

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This year it has also become a time to mourn the loss of more than 97,000 people due to the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.

The New York Times filled its entire front page with the names and selected details of 1,000 victims on Sunday seeking to illustrate the humanity of the lives lost.

People enjoy less restricted beachfront in Ventura, California, on Sunday. Brent Stirton/AFP

"We were trying to capture that personal toll," Marc Lacey, the newspaper's national editor, told Reuters. "We were trying to humanize these numbers which keep growing and have reached such unfathomable heights that they're really hard to grasp any more. ...This is about everyday people. It's about a death toll, reaching a number that's really just jaw-dropping."

Among the victims, drawn from obituaries and death notices in hundreds of US newspapers: Lila Fenwick, 87, the first black woman to graduate from Harvard Law; Romi Cohn, 91, saved 56 Jewish families from the Gestapo; Hailey Herrera, 25, budding therapist with a gift for empathy.

All 50 states have relaxed coronavirus restrictions to some degree. In some states, like Illinois and New York, restaurants are still closed to in-person dining and hair salons remain shuttered. In many southern states, most businesses are open, with restrictions on capacity.

Last week, 11 states reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases, including Alabama, Arkansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Maryland, Maine, Nevada, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin, according to a Reuters tally. It is not clear if the cases are rising from more testing or a second wave of infections.

People enjoy the less restricted beachfront over Memorial Day weekend in Ventura, California, on Sunday. AFP

Total US cases are over 1.6 million, the highest in the world, while forecast models for possible COVID-19 deaths predict the death toll will exceed 100,000 by June 1.

A plea by health officials and many state governors to wear masks in stores and in public is being met with protest and resistance from some Americans. Social media is filled with videos of businesses turning away a few angry customers who refuse to cover their mouths and noses.

"We need to be wearing masks in public when we cannot social distance. It's really critically important we have the scientific evidence of how important mask-wearing is to prevent those droplets from reaching others," Dr. Deborah Birx, response coordinator for the White House coronavirus task force, said on "Fox News Sunday."