US coronavirus statistics: COVID-19 cases rise in 25 states

The US is grappling with rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in half its states as Europe floats the possibility of banning US travellers.

America’s top infectious disease expert has warned the US is dealing with many unknowns as the country grapples with a rising number of coronavirus cases in half its states.

The news comes three months after US President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr Anthony Fauci said on Tuesday that while some states were doing well, other states looked “very troublesome to me”.

New data has shown that over the last two weeks, the situation in the US has continued to worsen. While 17 states were dealing with an increase of coronavirus cases a fortnight ago, now 25 states are dealing with rising numbers.

Some states, including Arizona, Florida and Texas, have reported record spikes in cases at the same time as announcing a haphazard easing of lockdown restrictions.

In the US, almost 2.4 million people have been diagnosed with the virus, and more than 123,000 people have died.

The country’s handling of the epidemic has concerned leaders around the world, with a new report claiming the European Union is drafting a plan to block US citizens from travelling into Europe as borders reopen.

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Arizona just ... omg pic.twitter.com/Opo2kMPUmw

— Derek Thompson (@DKThomp) June 24, 2020

A draft list of countries accepted by the EU, which has been sighted by The New York Times, seeks to ban US travellers, lumping them in with excluded travellers from Brazil and Russia.

Dr Robert Redfield, director of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said on Tuesday the US is headed towards spending about $US7 trillion ($A10 trillion) tackling the pandemic.

Speaking during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing, he said the CDC had “done the best that we can do to tackle this virus”.

Top experts say they have gone weeks without talking to US President Donald Trump about the epidemic. Picture: Saul Loeb/AFP

But his comments came as 25 states saw higher rates of new cases compared to previous weeks.

According to a report from CNN, the number of new cases of COVID-19 has grown in Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

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Health officials also dismissed comments from the US President Donald Trump which attributed the rise in numbers to the country’s high rate of testing.

Dr Fauci warned if the US didn’t get the virus under control by autumn the country will “essentially (be) chasing after a forest fire”.

It was Dr Fauci’s first public appearance in more than a month, with reports claiming the Trump administration has ceased communicating with top health officials regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Anthony Fauci has warned trying to get control of coronavirus could become like ‘chasing after a forest fire’. Picture: Kevin Dietsch/AFP

At the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing, Dr Fauci and Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir both said they hadn’t talked with Mr Trump about COVID-19 for about two-and-a-half weeks.

Dr Fauci also dismissed the idea that officials had been asked to “slow down” testing, an idea floated by Trump at his Tulsa election rally. He said the “opposite” was true and the plan was to do more testing, not less.

Former acting CDC director Dr Richard Besser also criticised the states’ transition out of stay-at-home orders, saying they had not been able to move “to a public health model of testing, tracking, isolating and quarantining”.

Dr Besser said states need to figure out a successful way of transitioning out, warning that even areas that have “done a really good job at tamping this down are going to see pretty dramatic rises”.