Virus 'attack' worse than Pearl Harbor, 9/11

Donald Trump has said the coronavirus pandemic is a worse "attack" on the United States than either Pearl Harbor or 9/11, taking aim again at China, which he said should have stopped the disease in its tracks.

The president has ramped up his rhetoric against Beijing in recent weeks, as the death toll in the US has continued to climb, and as he agitates to reopen the shuttered - and stuttering - economy.

While some European and Asian nations have started easing lockdowns, experts have warned that despite the economic pain, social distancing measures remain necessary until a vaccine is developed.

Globally, the virus has infected 3.7 million people and killed more than 260,000 - a quarter of them in the United States.

"It should have never happened," Trump said of the disease that emerged in the mainland city of Wuhan last year," Trump said.

"Could have been stopped at the source. Could have been stopped in China. This is really the worst attack we've ever had."

He added: "This is worse than Pearl Harbor. This is worse than the World Trade Center."

The Japanese assault on the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii on December 7, 1941 drew the United States into World War II, and the September 11, 2001 jihadist attacks that killed about 3,000 people triggered two decades of war.

So far, more than 73,000 Americans have died of Covid-19, and Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, predicted the US toll could top 100,000 by the end of the month.

"Until we have an effective vaccine, unless something unexpected happens, our viral enemy will be with us for many months or years," Frieden said.

The pandemic has hammered health-care infrastructure in many parts of the United States, including New York City, and its impact has been particularly severe on the least privileged sections of American society, such as undocumented migrants.

After Trump's comments, China slammed Washington for trying to shift blame over how it handled the virus crisis.

"We urge the US side to stop shifting the blame to China and turn to facts," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying. "They might say the pandemic is comparable to Pearl Harbor or 9/11, but the enemy facing the US is the novel coronavirus."