The United States could soon become the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, warns the World Health Organisation, as Trump says it must be 'open for business'

• The United States could soon become the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organisation warned on Tuesday.
• WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said there had been a "very large acceleration" in cases in the US in recent days.
• In the past 24 hours, 85% of all new coronavirus cases were in the US and Europe. 553 people have so far died in the US from COVID-19.
• The comments from the WHO came as Trump refused to impose a national lockdown and insisted the United States will soon be "open for business."
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The United States could soon become the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organisation warned on Tuesday, as President Trump insisted that the country should soon be "open for business."

WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told a press conference in Geneva on Tuesday there had been a "very large acceleration" in cases in the United States in recent days, according to Reuters.

Harris said that in the past 24 hours, 85% of all new reported coronavirus cases had been in the United States and Europe, with 40% of these just in the US.

Asked if the United States could become the "epicenter" of the crisis, she replied "We are now seeing a very large acceleration in cases in the U.S. So it does have that potential.

She added: "We cannot say that is the case yet but it does have that potential."

Her assessment came after President Trump insisted that the US should soon be "open for business."

"America will, again, and soon, be open for business. Very soon," Trump told a White House coronavirus briefing on Monday.

The president is resisting calls to impose a national lockdown on the United States, despite growing numbers of countries imposing strict restrictions on public movement.

On Monday evening UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a national lockdown, with members of the public restricted from leaving their homes for nonessential reasons.

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