WASHINGTON • President Donald Trump says that more than one million Americans have been tested for the coronavirus and that travel restrictions involving China and Europe, besides other countries, will stay in place as tough social distancing measures continue through this month in the United States.

"Today, we reached a historic milestone in our war against the coronavirus. Over one million Americans have been tested," Mr Trump told a White House briefing.

Mr Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, said the administration was now testing 100,000 samples a day.

Mr Trump said his administration would take a look at a suggestion from former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Scott Gottlieb that all Americans wear a mask when out in public to help halt the spread of the virus.

"After we get back into gear... I could see something like that happening for a period of time, but I would hope it would be a very limited period of time," he said.

Mr Trump also said the FDA had approved a machine that could disinfect N95 masks, so healthcare providers could reuse them.

The President said the US had begun to acquire personal protective equipment from overseas. "We're getting it from all over the world and we're also sending things that we don't need to other parts."

Mr Trump said he had just spoken with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and that the US would be sending Italy about US$100 million (S$143 million) worth of medical supplies that were not needed in the US.

He also lauded an announcement from Ford Motor and General Electric's healthcare unit that they would be producing 50,000 ventilators in 100 days. And he noted that General Motors and other US-based companies would be making ventilators as well.

"As we outpace what we need, we're going to be sending them to Italy, we're going to be sending them to France, we're going to be sending them to Spain... and other countries as we can."

On the travel bans, Mr Trump said: "They'll be staying and we may add a few more."

He said officials were beginning to see the impact of the travel restrictions, and that social distancing guidelines "will be very much as they are, maybe even toughened up a little bit. But they're having a big impact, they're having a tremendous impact".

"Every one of us has a role to play in winning this war. Every citizen, family and business can make the difference in stopping the virus. This is our shared patriotic duty," the President said.

The death toll in the US has risen to nearly 3,200, with over 166,000 confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, New York City has started lodging healthcare workers with coronavirus symptoms in repurposed hotels, providing a template for cities across the US looking for ways to keep hospital workers from infecting more people as they battle the pandemic.

The city is putting healthcare workers in hundreds of hotel rooms it secured across the five boroughs and wants to secure thousands more rooms, said Ms Heather Roiter, the head of hazard mitigation in the city's Office of Emergency Management.

Workers with coronavirus symptoms can quarantine in the rooms, she said, with separate spaces for asymptomatic healthcare workers who want to guard against passing infections to family members.

Other cities could adopt similar plans after a big hotel operator on Monday offered up tens of thousands of rooms across the US.

NYTIMES, REUTERS, BLOOMBERG, XINHUA