A second wave of coronavirus cases in the US could be even worse than the first, the country’s top health official has warned.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Robert Redfield said the danger was higher as a fresh outbreak would likely coincide with the flu season.

It would put “unimaginable strain” on the US health care system, he said.

The US has seen more than 800,000 cases – the highest in the world.

More than 45,000 people have so far died with coronavirus across the US, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

California had its highest one-day rise in new cases on Monday while New Jersey, the worst-hit US state apart from New York, saw its highest increase in deaths in one day.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Mr Redfield said that “there’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through”.

He urged officials in the US to prepare for the possibility of having to confront a flu and a coronavirus epidemic at the same time.

Source:BBC