President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with members of the National Association of Police Organisations Leadership in the Cabinet Room of the White House. Photo / Getty Images
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with members of the National Association of Police Organisations Leadership in the Cabinet Room of the White House. Photo / Getty Images
US President Donald Trump has posted a cocky tweet in reaction to Victoria declaring a State of Disaster yesterday, saying the virus is taking hold in nations "thought to have done a great job".
After facing sustained criticism over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Trump posted a video of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' Sunday press conference.
"Big China Virus breakouts all over the World, including nations which were thought to have done a great job," he wrote. "The Fake News doesn't report this. USA will be stronger than ever before, and soon!"
It comes just days after he told reporters Australia is one of a many countries having "tremendous problems" in dealing with the global pandemic.
"This resurgence in cases is occurring throughout large portions of our planet – in Japan, China, Australia, Belgium, Spain, France, Germany, Hong Kong – places where they thought they'd really done great," he said.
"It came back, and in a couple of cases came back very strongly. The virus was said to be under control but new cases have risen very significantly once again. So when you think somebody is doing well, sometimes you have to hold your decision on that. You have to hold your statements."
The comments came despite America having the highest number of infections and deaths in the world, with successive polls showing widespread disapproval over his mishandling of the crisis.
The United States has recorded 4,657,693 cases and 154,793 deaths to Australia's 17,923 cases and 208 deaths.
It is being warned that the US is entering a "new phase" of the pandemic.
Overnight, Deborah Birx, the physician overseeing the White House coronavirus response, urged people to take extreme health precautions as infections and deaths rise sharply nationwide.
"I want to be very clear. What we're seeing today is different from March and April," Dr Birx told CNN's State Of The Union, noting that cases are increasing in rural and urban areas. "It is extraordinarily widespread."
Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews. Photo / Getty Images
The seven-day average for new coronavirus-related deaths rose in nearly half of the states over the past week, pushing the national death toll past 150,000 and prompting health experts to warn that the trend is unlikely to reverse anytime soon.
Numerous states reported record daily fatalities in recent days, including California, which reported 219 on Saturday. Florida reported a record 257 deaths on Friday, and seven-day averages for new deaths reached new highs in states across the South, the West and the Midwest.
Elsewhere in the world, more than half a million coronavirus cases have been confirmed in South Africa.
The country's health minister announced 10,107 new cases on Saturday, bringing the tally to 503,290, along with 8153 deaths.
South Africa is the hardest-hit country in Africa and accounts for half of all reported infections in the continent.
It also has the fifth-highest number of cases in the world after the US, Brazil, Russia and India.
Meanwhile there are riots on the streets of Israel over the government's handling of the pandemic.
The country is now seeing record levels of infections, while unemployment has surged to more than 20 per cent.
As of Sunday, there were more than 72,000 coronavirus cases reported in Israel with more than 530 confirmed deaths.
There were clashes between demonstrators and police in Jerusalem over the weekend.
Critics say the government moved quickly to contain the virus earlier in the year and many believe Israel reopened its economy too quickly – leading to a surge in cases.
