Washington, May 24 (PTI) Americans must maintain social distancing and there should not be more than 10 people during public gatherings, the top White House official on coronavirus said on Sunday as the states across the US gradually started to reopen their economies.

Responding to questions, Deborah Brix said that the Trump administration has been working with every county and state and local official, both through the Center of Disease Control and through the governors, to encourage proactive testing.

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“During this reopening, social gatherings should not be more than 10 people, even if they're outside, because you still need to maintain that social distancing,” Dr Brix told ABC News in an interview on a Sunday talk show.

More than 97,000 Americans have died of coronavirus in the last three months and over 1.6 million have tested positive.

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As the rate of new cases showed signs of decline, states have now started reopening their economies.

On Friday, Trump issued an order to declare places of worship as essential services.

“I think it's our job as public health officials every day to be informing the public of what puts them at risk. And we have made it clear that there is asymptomatic spread. And that means that people are spreading the virus unknowingly,” she said.

“So we really want to be clear all the time that social distancing is absolutely critical. If you can't social distance and you're outside, you must wear a mask. These are items that really critical to protect individuals,” she said.

During the last few months, she said the US has learned a lot about this virus.

“But we now need to translate that learning into real changed behaviour that stays with us so that we can continue to drive down the number of cases,” she said.

More than 70 per cent of the American businesses are likely to be open by Monday, but the Americans are expected to experience economic pain over the next few months, another White House official.

The United States is “definitely in recovery now,” the Senior Advisor to the President on the Economic Task Force and the former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Kevin Hassett, told MSNBC in an interview.

In early April about 50 per cent of American businesses were open and 50 per cent closed. “And right now, as of the latest numbers, we're closing in -- probably by Monday will be about 70 per cent open,” he said in response to a question.

“So open doesn't mean your sales are back to where they were. There's still going to be a lot of economic pain over the next few months but the fact is that everything's trajecting in the right directory.

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