On Wednesday he acknowledged that lifting lockdowns could lead to an increase in deaths, but added: "Hopefully that won’t be the case."

He said the coronavirus task force would shift its focus to reopening the economy, a day after suggesting it would be disbanded. It is not clear exactly how the task force will change but Mr Trump said "we may add or subtract people to it".

The US currently has 1.2 million confirmed coronavirus infections and more than 73,000 related deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

More than 30 million people have filed for unemployment benefits in recent weeks as much of the country has stayed home. We'll be getting more unemployment data today and tomorrow which could further illustrate the economic toll of this crisis.