*Trump threatens to adjourn Congress
The United States of America (USA) has the largest number of cases with 609,685 followed by Spain at 177,633 and Italy at 162,488.
This is as over 27,000 Americans have died and 45,000 have “fully recovered,” according to latest updates.
The total number of coronavirus cases in the world has surpassed two million, according to the data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University.
Trump says he will present new guidelines allowing some states to reopen, arguing data indicates the US is “past the peak” of the coronavirus pandemic.
The “encouraging developments have put us in a very strong position to finalise the guidelines for states on reopening the country,” he says, adding the new rules will be revealed at a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
Mike Pence, the US vice president, says more than three million people have been tested for the new coronavirus across the country.
“It’s reported to us that we’ve conducted and completed three million, 324,000 tests across the nation, more than 619,000 Americans have tested positive,” he says at a White House press briefing.
Trump is threatening to adjourn the US Congress despite the coronavirus pandemic, accusing Democrats in the Republican-controlled Senate of stalling his nominations for federal judgeships and top government positions.
“I will exercise my constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress,” he says.
“I’d rather not use that power … We’ll probably be challenged in court and we’ll see who wins.”
He adds: “The current practice of leaving town, while conducting phony pro forma sessions, is a dereliction of duty that the American people cannot afford during this crisis.”
No US president has used the constitutional authority to force Congress to adjourn if they cannot agree on a date to adjourn.
