A swathe of US states were set to reopen businesses this week following mandatory lockdowns that have thrown nearly one in six American workers out of jobs.
Colorado, Mississippi, Minnesota, Montana and Tennessee are among the states preparing to ease restrictions, despite disquiet among health experts about the risk of fuelling a second wave of infections.
It comes as the number of confirmed US cases was expected to reach one million today, with more than 55,000 fatalities.
Meanwhile, in New York, a common heartburn drug is being tested on Covid-19 patients following signs that it may have helped survivors of the virus in China.
Nearly 200 patients have enrolled in the clinical trial of famotidine and doctors are hoping to produce preliminary results within weeks.
The trial is being carried out by Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, the research arm of Northwell Health, which runs 23 hospitals in and around New York.
The idea came after early studies in China appeared to show that patients taking the drug fared better than those who were not.
