New York state, the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, has experienced its lowest one-day death toll in two weeks, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced.

Cuomo said 540 people had died in his state of 20 million inhabitants in the preceding 24 hours, and he suggested New York may now be on the downslope after a recent plateau in deaths.

But Cuomo, who has extended the state's stay-at-home rule to May 15, said the recent improvement should be viewed with some caution. No fewer than 2,000 people were hospitalised in the past day in connection with the virus, he told reporters in a daily briefing.

“We're not at the plateau anymore,” he said, “but we're still not in a good position”.