The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday that the US could become the global epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic.

Confirmed coronavirus cases around the world exceeded 377,000 across 194 countries and territories as of early Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, more than 16,500 of them fatal.

In Geneva, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters there had been a “very large acceleration” in infections in the US.

Over the previous 24 hours, 85 per cent of new cases were in Europe and the US, and of those, 40 per cent were in the US. As of Monday, the virus had infected more than 42,000 people there, killing at least 559.

Asked whether the US could become the new epicentre, Harris said: “We are now seeing a very large acceleration in cases in the US.

“So it does have that potential.”

Some US state and local officials have decried a lack of coordinated federal action, saying that having localities act on their own has put them in competition for supplies.

President Donald Trump acknowledged the difficulty.

“The World market for face masks and ventilators is Crazy. We are helping the states to get equipment, but it is not easy,” he tweeted.

“They (the United States) have a very large outbreak and an outbreak that is increasing in intensity,” Harris added.

However, she identified some positive signs such as more comprehensive testing, and further efforts to isolate the sick and trace their immediate contacts exposed to the virus.

She also referred to “extremely heartwarming” stories of how Americans were helping each other during the crisis.

Overall, the global outbreak was accelerating very rapidly and she expected large increases in case numbers and deaths from the 334,981 cases and 14,652 deaths currently reported to WHO.

WHO’s dashboard on its website, which tends to lag countries’ individual tallies, showed that on Monday had by far the biggest daily rise in infections since the outbreak began in December, with more than 40,000 new cases.

Harris said that new records were to be expected each day until new confinement measures begin to take effect.

Up until now, Europe has been the centre of transmission with Italy the most badly-hit country with the world’s highest number of deaths, although fatalities have begun slowing there.

Asked about a potential tipping point in Italy, she said: “There is a glimmer of hope there. We’ve seen in the last two days fewer new cases and deaths in Italy but it’s very, very early days yet.”

Harris also voiced concern about growing case numbers in countries with weak health systems and high HIV prevalence.

South Africa’s confirmed number of coronavirus cases rose to 554 on Tuesday ahead of a nationwide lockdown panned for 21 days from midnight on Thursday.

“South Africa is doing what needed, doing the testing and following the contacts,” she said.

“The coronavirus outbreak represents a major external shock to the macro outlook, akin to a large-scale natural disaster,” analysts at BlackRock Investment Institute said.