US scientist warns of coronavirus 'surge'

Anthony Fauci, a leading member of the White House coronavirus task force, has urged US states including Arizona, Texas, and Florida to move aggressively to prevent recent increases in cases from turning into "a real surge".

The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases issued his call after US vice-president Mike Pence, head of the task force, played down the possibility of a "second wave" of Covid-19 cases, saying in a Wall Street Journal column that "such panic is overblown".