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Most Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, a new poll shows. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

A majority of Americans (55%) now say the federal government has done a poor job preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, according to a new CNN poll.

Most Americans (55%) also said President Donald Trump could be doing more to fight the outbreak, and a majority (52%) disapprove of the job he's done in handling the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Trump has berated reporters who have questioned him on the federal government's bungled response, scoffing at questions on the lack of a robust system of testing for the virus.

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As President Donald Trump continues to urge reporters to congratulate him on the "great job" he's done in responding to coronavirus, rather than pressing him on the government's failures, a majority of Americans now disapprove of his handling of the crisis, according to a new CNN poll.

The poll found 52% disapprove of the way Trump is handling the crisis, while 45% approve. This marks an uptick from the same poll in early March, when when 41% approved and 48% disapproved.

Meanwhile, a majority of Americans (55%) also now say that the federal government has done a poor job in preventing the spread of the virus, the poll found, and 55% also feel that Trump could be doing more to fight the pandemic.

As of Wednesday morning, there were over 12,000 reported coronavirus deaths in the US, and nearly 400,000 confirmed cases.

Trump ignored multiple warnings of a potential pandemic, and downplayed the threat of the virus for weeks.

Roughly a month ago, for example, Trump on March 9 tweeted: "The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, is doing everything within its semi-considerable power (it used to be greater!) to inflame the CoronaVirus situation, far beyond what the facts would warrant. Surgeon General, 'The risk is low to the average American.'"

The president has repeatedly said that he's done a great job managing the crisis, even as the death toll continues to rise.

The federal government has struggled to recover from early stumbles, particularly in terms of testing for the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent out faulty test kits in February, which put the US way behind the curve. Though testing capacity has increased, the US still does not have a robust system to test people for the virus and gain a full picture of the spread.

Trump has scoffed at questions about this and dismissed a recent report from the Department of Health and Human Service's inspector general, which warned of severe supply shortages and testing delays at hospitals.

"States are supposed to be doing testing. Hospitals are supposed to be doing testing," Trump said on Monday. "We're the federal government. We're not supposed to be standing on street corners doing testing. They go to doctors. They go to hospitals."

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