The number of confirmed U.S. coronavirus cases topped 1 million on Tuesday – representing a third of the global total – even as some states eased restrictions in the face of an economy battered by the pandemic.
With U.S. President Donald Trump‘s economic adviser forecasting an unemployment rate of more than 16 per cent for April and many Americans chafing under stay-at-home orders, about a dozen states were moving to restart their economies despite a lack of large-scale virus testing.
Public health experts have warned that a premature rollback of social-distancing policies could cause a surge in new infections.
More than 56,500 Americans have died of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus, with an average of about 2,000 a day