United States coronavirus deaths have passed a quarter of a million people as New York announced it would close schools to battle a rise in infections.

America has now registered 250,029 fatalities, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University, by far the highest national death toll.

US states and cities are imposing a raft of new restrictions, including home confinement, the closure of indoor dining and a limit on gatherings as cases soar across the country.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city's 1,800 public schools would revert to remote learning beginning today after the Big Apple recorded a seven-day average positivity rate of three per cent. “We must fight back the second wave of Covid-19,” he said.