US President Donald Trump admits he tried to minimise the seriousness of the threat from Covid-19 at the outset of the pandemic in audio recordings released from interviews with veteran journalist Bob Woodward. "I wanted to always play it down," Mr Trump said in an interview with Mr Woodward on 19 March, according to a CNN preview of the book "Rage," due to be published next week. "I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic," he said in the conversation with Mr Woodward, which was recorded.
In another recorded interview, on 7 February, he told Mr Woodward the virus "goes through the air" - despite repeatedly mocking people who wear masks in the weeks and months after.