Coronavirus: Top US official doesn't rule out support for 'national lockdown'

One of the Trump administration's key coronavirus taskforce experts has said he doesn't rule out supporting a “national lockdown” to stop the spread of the virus.

Asked if he would be in favour of a such a measure in which people are told to stay at home, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said he would “like to see a dramatic diminution of the personal interaction that we see.”

“Whatever it takes to do that, that's what I'd like to see,” he added in an interview with CNN's Brianna Keller on Sunday morning's State of the Union.

Dr Fauci went on to say that Americans will need to come to terms with the fact that life is going to look very different as the country responds to the spread of the virus.

“We need to be very serious about — for a while, life is not going to be the way it used to be in the United States,” he said. “We have to just accept that if we want to do what's best for the American public.”

Across the country people are being encouraged to practice “social distancing” in which they avoid places where people gather, or crowded situations such as public transport.

Large events continue to be cancelled and in some cases more dramatic steps are being taken.

From Monday, the city of Hoboken, New Jersey, is implementing a curfew from 10pm to 5am, with exceptions for people that work during those hours. Restaurants have also been told they can no longer serve food on the premises, but only as takeout or delivery, and bars that do not serve food have been told to close.

Italy and Spain have already introduced lockdowns on their populations.

There are now 2,851 cases in the US, with 17 recoveries and 56 deaths.