Leading infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci has warned US Congress that prematurely lifting lockdowns could lead to additional outbreaks of the deadly coronavirus.
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The COVID-19 respiratory disease caused by the new virus has already infected more than 1.3 million Americans, killed at least 80,976, according to a Reuters tally, and brought the economy to its knees.
That toll is projected to climb significantly in coming months.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Fauci told a US Senate panel the virus epidemic was not yet under control in areas of the nation.
"I think we're going in the right direction, but the right direction does not mean we have by any means total control of this outbreak," Fauci said during Tuesday's three-and-a-half-hour hearing.
He urged states to follow health experts' recommendations to wait for signs, including a declining number of new infections, before reopening.
US President Donald Trump has been encouraging states to end a weeks-long shuttering of major components of their economies.
But senators heard a sobering assessment from Fauci, when asked by Democrats about a premature opening of the economy.
"There is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you may not be able to control and, in fact paradoxically, will set you back, not only leading to some suffering and death that could be avoided, but could even set you back on the road to try to get economic recovery," Fauci said.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said at his daily briefing that his state alone needed $US61 billion ($A94 billion) in federal stimulus to help reopen its economy.
He called on Congress and Trump to support legislation that would address funding gaps, a problem he stressed was dogging Republican and Democratic governors.
Some states already have begun reopening their economies and others have announced plans to phase that in beginning in mid-May, even as opinion polls show most Americans are concerned about resuming such operations too soon.
Arizona was the latest state to do away with restrictions. Republican Governor Doug Ducey said stay-at-home orders in place since March 31 would be allowed to expire on Friday.
"This is not a green light to speed," Ducey told a news conference. "This is a green light to proceed, and we're going to proceed with caution."
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said on Tuesday he intended to announce some tentative moves toward reopening even though his state, by some measures, is currently the most serious coronavirus danger zone in the US.
The outlook is different in California, with the state university system, the largest in the United States, cancelling classes for the autumn semester, while Los Angeles County said its stay-at-home order was likely to be extended by three months.
Fauci, 79, testified to Congress remotely in a room lined with books as he self-quarantines after he may have come into contact with either of two members of the White House staff who were diagnosed with COVID-19.
Australian Associated Press