High schools and colleges are to halt on-site teaching and restaurants are prohibited from offering indoor dining in Michigan from Wednesday.

Indoor restaurant dining is also banned in Washington State, and gyms, cinemas, theatres and museums will close.

On average, more than 1,000 people a day in the US are dying with the virus,

On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom said he was pulling the "emergency brake", bringing more than 94% of the population under the strictest coronavirus guidance. In these counties, indoor restaurant spaces, worship spaces and gyms will be closed. Mr Newsom said he is also considering a state curfew to help slow the spread.

Republican governors in Iowa, Ohio, West Virginia, Utah and North Dakota have issued mask mandates

Wisconsin and Nevada residents were asked to stay at home for two weeks to avoid a return to restrictions

The potential cost at home of the President's obstinacy and failure to sign off on millions of dollars of transition funding, access to government agencies and briefings for Biden's team is becoming ever more clear.

Hugely encouraging news about the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines expected to be available to all Americans next year cannot disguise growing anxiety among medical experts at the failure to read the next administration into the program.

The vaccine effort will be one of the most complicated logistical and public health undertakings ever. Any delays in manufacturing and distributing the vaccine could result in thousands of unnecessary deaths.

Growing desperation about the worsening human toll of Covid-19 prompted several big US medical groups to call for cooperation between the outgoing and incoming administrations on Tuesday.

Trump's neglect is having a devastating impact as hospitalizations from Covid-19 reach record levels and the virus blasts through Midwest and Mountain West states where Republican governors and voters bought into Trump's minimization of the pandemic and contempt for masks and social distancing.

The US has recorded more than 250,000 deaths from Covid-19, a bleak marker as cases soar once again across the country.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the country has now reported 250,029 deaths and nearly 11.5 million cases.

It has more infections and a higher death toll than any other country worldwide.

And cases have once again started to soar throughout the US, hitting new daily highs in the last week.

WASHINGTON – Corey Lewandowski, a top adviser to President Donald Trump's reelection effort, has tested positive for COVID-19, the latest member of the president's inner circle to contract the illness in recent weeks. He tested positive earlier this week after working in Pennsylvania on the president's efforts to challenge that state's election results.

Lewandowski was present on election night at the White House for a gathering after initial results showed Trump ahead in several states. Meadows and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, who were also present at the gathering, also tested positive in recent days.

US President Donald Trump's oldest son has tested positive for coronavirus, according to his spokesman.

Donald Trump Jr, 42, was diagnosed at the start of this week and has been quarantining at his cabin since the result, according to the spokesman.

"He's been completely asymptomatic so far and is following all medically recommended Covid-19 guidelines," said the statement.

It is unclear whether his partner, Kimberly Guilfoyle, has been affected.

Ms Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host, tested positive for the disease in July, and recovered. Mr Trump Jr apparently did not contract the infection at the time.

Earlier on Friday, Andrew Giuliani, a special assistant to President Trump, announced he had tested positive for coronavirus.

Mr Giuliani - who is the son of the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, tweeted that he was experiencing mild symptoms after receiving his positive test on Friday morning.

CBS News, the BBC's US partner, has confirmed that at least four other White House aides have tested positive for Covid-19 in the latest outbreak there.

Across the US, the daily death toll linked to Covid-19 has passed 2,000 for the first time since May.

The country has now more than 12,000,000 million confirmed infections, with more than 255,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

About 187,000 new infections were recorded nationwide in the latest figures - released on Friday for the previous day - which is an all-time high.

Several states have imposed new mask mandates and restrictions to try to combat the rise, and in Texas the National Guard is being deployed to the city of El Paso to help with morgue operations there.

The drug, developed by Regeneron, will be allowed for use in people who have tested positive for the virus and are at risk of severe illness.

Studies suggest the therapy is effective when administered early after diagnosis, the company says.

Emergency authorisation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows use of a treatment while studies are carried out to determine safety and effectiveness.

The Regeneron treatment is a combination of two monoclonal antibodies - potent, laboratory-made antibodies - which mimic our own immune response. They physically stick to the coronavirus so they cannot get inside the body's cells.

Regeneron said it expected to have enough doses for about 80,000 patients by the end of this month and 300,000 in total by the end of January. The treatment will be provided for free but patients may have to pay for having it administered.

The FDA said the treatment was not authorised for Covid patients who are in hospital or require oxygen.

US Housing Secretary Ben Carson said he believed he was "out of the woods" after being "extremely sick" following his positive Covid diagnosis earlier this month.

On Facebook, Mr Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, said Trump "cleared me for the monoclonal antibody therapy that he had previously received, which I am convinced saved my life". As with Trump, the role the drug played in his recovery is unclear.

In footage which spread rapidly on social media, nine inmates wearing the striped jumpers of the El Paso county jail helped move bodies into mobile morgues.

The sheriff’s office said the use of the inmates began on 9 November, on a volunteer basis. El Paso county said the inmates were tested and provided with personal protective equipment by the medical examiner’s office, and would face a two-week quarantine once the program was over. They were being paid $2 an hour.

“It was just a temporary focus, and we’re waiting for the Texas national guard to help us out with that,” said Samaniego, in response to outcry on social media over the use of inmates rather than trained medical professionals.

A spokeswoman for the El Paso county sheriff’s office told the Guardian the inmates’ work would “end when the national guard arrives”. Samaniego, however, wasn’t sure those troops were coming. “It has not been confirmed that they would be able to take over the demand that we have at this time,” he said.

The El Paso county public health department has confirmed more than 800 deaths since March. Another 400 are under investigation. El Paso has called in more mobile morgues in recent days, up from six to 10.

Authorities in El Paso fear a dire situation could get much worse. Facilities are overwhelmed: 1,100 people are hospitalized with Covid-19.

Boris Epshteyn was at the Trump legal team’s press briefing less than a week ago after which Rudy Giuliani’s son tested positive. Trump’s lawyers have a “hearing” scheduled this lunchtime at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.