US surgeon general Jerome Adams warned of a 9/11 moment, ‘only it’s not going to be localised’.

The US surgeon general has braced the country for the worsening fallout from coronavirus, warning "this is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans’ lives”.

The number of people infected in the US has exceeded 300,000, with the death toll climbing past 8,400.

More than 3,500 of those deaths are in the state of New York.

Much of the country is under orders to stay home, and federal officials said they have seen signs that people are listening to the message about social distancing.