Related video: Trump claims that he knew coronavirus was a pandemic just weeks after claiming it was a hoax

Donald Trump has closed the US-Mexico border, put a hold on student loan repayments, suspended elementary school testing, extended the deadline for Americans to file their tax returns and cancelled June's G7 summit with world leaders as part of his administration’s bid to make up for lost time following the coronavirus outbreak.

A number of US senators, notably Republicans Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler, are meanwhile facing calls to resign after being accused of “insider trading” after it emerged they dumped stock options in response to a briefing on the outbreak on 24 January, with even Fox News host Tucker Carlson joining in the outrage and demanding Burr step down.

The president has said that he was "not aware" of those reports but called the senators "very honourable people."

In California, 40m citizens are being ordered to stay indoors as the crisis deepens, while in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered the closure of non-essential businesses across the state.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warns that the city could run out of medical supplies within three weeks without "radical" action from the federal government as the mayor prepares the possibility of a "shelter-in-place" order.

Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden also has attacked the president's response, after he berated a reporter and has waffled on an emergency order that could mandate companies rush the manufacturing of critically needed medical supplies.

Susan Rice, who also served under the Obama administration, dismissed claims by the president that his predecessor was ill-equipped to respond to a pandemic and pointed to Mr Trump's dismissal of his own pandemic response team among his national security advisers.

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