Donald Trump has controversially labeled the coronavirus the 'Chinese Virus' in a tweet in which he promised to protect American industry from the economic crisis caused by the pathogen.

Instead of calling the deadly disease which has killed 6,500 worldwide by its designated name, COVID-19, the president risked accusations of playing to his base by appearing to lay the blame for the virus at Beijing's door.

Despite the fact that the virus is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China, the World Health Organization does not attach geographic names to diseases or 'terms that incite undue fear'.

Donald J. Trump, with members of the coronavirus Task Force delivers remarks during a briefing at the White House

This comes after Trump faces accusations he is losing control of the situation and released a series of sweeping guidelines that for the next 15 days will temporarily rewrite the norms of American society.

So far, the US has had more than 4,600 confirmed cases of the virus and there have been 79 known deaths from the infection.

Trump, employing a newly somber tone about the crisis enveloping the globe, urged all older Americans to stay home and everyone to avoid crowds and eating out at restaurants.

The spread of the coronavirus outbreak in the US since the outbreak began in January

The president for the first time acknowledged that the pandemic may send the economy into a recession and suggested that the nation may be dealing with the virus until 'July or August.'

The guidelines were released to an uneasy country.

The stock market had its worst day since 1987, America's largest school system shut its doors and questions remained about the administration's ability to test for the virus and provide hospital space for those who fall ill.

Trump on Monday outlined the new guidelines, asking people to limit their interactions with others in the hopes of slowing the outbreak over the next two weeks to avoid hospitals from becoming overwhelmed.

'We have an invisible enemy,' the president said at a news conference, urging Americans to avoid gathering in groups of more than 10 people.

Trump said people should not frequent bars, restaurants and food courts, and were better suited to work and attend virtual school from home.

'This is a bad one. This is a very bad one,' he said.

Those Americans testing positive for the virus should remain home.

An age range for the elderly was not mentioned for staying at home.

In his remarks, Trump said each and every American, including himself, 'has a critical role to play in stopping the spread and transmission of the virus.'

'If everyone makes this change or these critical changes and sacrifices now, we will rally together as one nation, and we will defeat the virus, and we're going to have a big celebration altogether,' he explained.

'With several weeks of focused action, we can turn the corner and turn it quickly.'

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, urged Americans to take the guidelines, which are not mandatory, seriously.

While some may perceive them as inconvenient or going too far, they come in response to an assessment that finds containment efforts are deteriorating.

'When you're dealing with an emerging infectious diseases outbreak, you are always behind where you think you are if you think that today reflects where you really are. That's not word speak. It means if you think you're here,' Fauci said, holding up his hands to illustrate his point.

'You're really here because you're only getting the results. Therefore, it will always seem that the best way to address it would be to be doing something that looks like it might be an overreaction. It isn't an overreaction.'

The 15-day guideline period defied some disease models that predict a crisis, similar to Italy's, could start to impact the US healthcare system in just 10 days, Politico reports.

Fauci defended the 15 days, calling it 'a trial' period for the guidelines.

'It isn't that these guidelines are now gonna be in effect until July,' he said. 'What the president was saying is the trajectory of the outbreak may go until then.'

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on Sunday called for the the cancellation and postponement of gatherings of 50 people or more for the next eight weeks.

Federal offices in Washington, DC, are open, but with flexibility allowing workers to work by remote.