A top health official in the US said on Sunday that stronger effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus would roll out over the next several weeks, a period he characterised as crucial for controlling the outbreak.

Appearing across a number of Sunday morning news programmes, Dr Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said travel bans enacted last week had helped curb transmission, but that US citizens would have to make personal sacrifices and comply with government guidelines to avoid a “worst-case scenario”.

On NBC’s Meet the Press, Fauci cautioned: “Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing.”

While the Donald Trump administration has banned international travellers coming from high-risk countries and regions, such as China, Iran and much of Europe, Fauci said domestic travel restrictions hadn’t been seriously discussed.

“I don’t see that right now or in the immediate future,” he said on This Week. “But remember, we are very open-minded about whatever it takes to preserve the health of the American public.”

The administration’s evaluation of the virus’s impact comes as many companies, universities and school districts are already announcing voluntary closings and suspension of normal operations. Last week, over a dozen states began to shutter public schools, and colleges and universities worldwide announced class suspensions and plans to move to online instruction.

In an interview with Brianna Keilar on CNN, Dr Fauci said progress was being made with companies like Walmart and CVS to improve diagnostic and testing capabilities. But he cautioned that disruptions to daily life were likely to continue. “For a while, life is not going to be the way it used to be in the United States,” he said. “We have to just accept that if we want to do what’s best for the American public.”

Daniel Goldman, who as the top investigator for the House Intelligence Committee played a leading role in the impeachment of President Trump, has tested positive, a House official confirmed on Sunday.

Goldman left the committee earlier this month. The panel’s chairman, Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, said on Sunday that neither he nor any of his other aides were exhibiting symptoms. Schiff had already cancelled public events and directed his staff to work from home.

Italy toll at 1809

Italy recorded 368 new deaths from the COVID-19 outbreak on Sunday as the total rose to 1,809 from 1,441 a day earlier, the country’s civil protection authority said on Sunday, according to news agency Reuters. The number of positive cases rose to 24,747 from 21,157 a day earlier.