HOUSE Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced a new House Select Committee to oversee the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

She said the committee would be bipartisan and intended to “root out waste, fraud and abuse” and to “protect against price-gouging, profiteering and political favoritism”.

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2 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced a new House Select Committee to oversee the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus outbreak Credit: EPA

2 The president is facing mounting criticism over his administration's handling of the epidemic Credit: EPA

She added that part of its focus would be to scrutinize the distribution of a $2 trillion relief package passed last week.

The president is facing mounting criticism over his administration's handling of the epidemic as well as his earlier attempts to play down its severity.

The US now has over 215,000 cases of the coronavirus and more than 5,000 people confirmed to have died.

This week saw it overtake China as the country with the most cases officially recorded, though questions have been raised about whether the Chinese government is disclosing the full impact the virus is having in China.

Speaking to reporters on a conference call, Pelosi said: “We face a deadly virus and a battered economy with millions of Americans suddenly out of work.

“Congress has taken an important step in leading this crisis by passing three bills with over $2 trillion in emergency relief.

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"We need to ensure those dollars are spent carefully and effectively.”

The announcement comes after figures showed the number of people claiming unemployment benefit in the US last week rose to 6.6m, doubling a record set the previous week.

Neither Congress or the Senate is due to return to Washington until at least April 20 as lawmakers try to avoid congregating amid the crisis.

Pelosi has said Congress should consider another relief bill once it returns, although Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell has said more time should be given to see the impact had by the first package.

The first package included $500 billion of loans and guarantees to businesses as well as state and local governments, $350 billion in loans to small companies, and $260 billion worth of emergency unemployment insurance.

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Pelosi has previously expressed concern that the package would be a "slush fund".

The new committee would be intended to strengthen oversight measures already in place.

The coronavirus has infected over 960,000 people and killed more than 49,000 since first breaking out in December.