A spike in US coronavirus infections is fueled in large part by people ignoring public health guidelines to keep their distance and wear masks, the government's top infectious disease official said.

According to Reuters, a daily surge in confirmed cases has been most pronounced in southern and western states that did not follow health officials' recommendations to wait for a steady decline in infections for two weeks before reopening their economies.

“That's a recipe for disaster,” Anthony Fauci, who directs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN in an interview.

“Now we're seeing the consequences of community spread, which is even more difficult to contain than spread in a well known physical location like a prison or nursing home or meatpacking place,” Fauci said.