The coronavirus has reached into the heart of the White House once more, less than a week before Election Day, as it scorches the nation and the president’s top aide says “we’re not going to control the pandemic".

An AP report said that White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, when pressed to explain why the pandemic cannot be reined in, said: “Because it is a contagious virus just like the flu."

He told CNN’s ”State of the Union” that the government was focused on getting effective therapeutics and vaccines to market.