The US state of Ohio likely has more than 100,000 people carrying the new coronavirus, AFP quoted the state health department director as saying.

Speaking at a press conference Thursday with state governor Mike DeWine to announce measures to slow the spread of the pandemic, director Amy Acton said Ohio had community spread of the virus.

“We know now just the fact of community spread says that at least one per cent, at the very least, one per cent of our population is carrying this virus in Ohio today,” Acton said. “We have 11.7 million people. So the math is over 100,000. So that just gives you a sense of how this virus spreads and is spreading quickly,” she added.

Ohio has five confirmed cases and 52 under investigation but, like much of the United States, has so far carried out limited numbers of tests.

Coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed 1,300 on Thursday with nearly 40 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.