US virus crisis to ‘get worse before it gets better’, warns Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday during his first White House coronavirus press briefing in nearly three months has said that the covid-19 pandemic situation in the US will “get worse before it gets better”.

"Some areas of our country are doing very well.Others are doing less well. It will probably unfortunately get worse before it gets better," he said.

He said there had been an "a concerning rise in (virus) cases in many parts of our South."

On Monday, President Donald Trumpoffered his strongest endorsement for wearing face masks in public, tweeting that it is a “Patriotic” action to take during the coronavirus pandemic. For months Trump has been refusing to encourage mask wearing as a way to combat the coronavirus.

Trump urged Americans to wear facemasks to help prevent the spread of the highly contagious virus which has left more than 141,000 people dead in the United States.

"We are asking everybody that when you are not able to socially distance, wear a mask," he said.

"Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact. They will have an effect and we need everything we can get."

Trump said the goal is "not merely to manage the pandemic but to end it."

"The vaccines are coming and they're coming a lot sooner than anyone thought possible," he said.

Trump also repeated his assertion that the virus "will disappear."

"It will disappear," he said.

(With inputs from agencies)