President Donald Trump has named vice-president Mike Pence to coordinate the government’s response to the coronavirus, even as he repeatedly played down the danger to the United States of a widespread domestic outbreak.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that Mr. Trump’s announcement, at a White House news conference, followed mounting bipartisan criticism that the administration’s response has been sluggish and came after two days of contradictory messages about the virus, which has infected more than 81,000 people globally, killing nearly 3,000.

The announcement also came on a day when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a person with no known risk factors had been infected in northern California.

“The risk to the American people remains very low,” Mr. Trump said, flanked by top health officials from several government agencies. “We have the greatest experts, really in the world, right here.”