'We won't be closing the country again': Trump plays down chance of a second coronavirus wave as cases continue to mount

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President Donald Trump has said the US will not conduct another coronavirus shutdown even as new cases spiked across several states where measures have been eased.

“We won’t be closing the country again. We won’t have to do that,” Mr Trump said on Wednesday night during an interview with Fox News.

Those comments came as six American states announced all-time highs for new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday.

The states – Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Nevada – have now seen thousands contract coronavirus since phased reopened began some two weeks ago.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow and treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin have also reiterated that the United States could not shut down again.

“We can’t shut down the economy again,” Mr Mnuchin told CNBC last week. “I think we’ve learned that if you shut down the economy, you’re going to create more damage, and not just economic damage, but there are other areas”.

Vice President Mike Pence, meanwhile, has encouraged governors to repeat the Trump administration’s claim that increased testing accounts for the spike in numbers, The New York Times reports.

The Times’ analysis found that positive Covid-19 cases surpassed average tests administered in at least 14 states. At the same time, some 21 states are believed to be on an upward path.

Still, the president claimed on Wednesday that the country was in “great shape” and that it could manage new coronavirus cases.

He added that his administration, which has overseen the world’s worst Covid-19 pandemic death toll, had made “all the right moves” since the virus entered the US.

Whilst the economic shutdown has seen almost 44 million unemployment claims submitted since march, almost 120,000 Americans have lost their lives to the virus and 2.21 million people have contracted it.

Mr Trump maintains that his administration created “the greatest economy in history” prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, whilst its rebound will be central to his re-election bid in November.