In it the former vice-president wrote:"We are not prepared for a pandemic. Trump has rolled back progress President Obama and I made to strengthen global health security. We need leadership that builds public trust,focuses on real threats,and mobilises the world to stop outbreaks before they reach our shores."

The tweet was posted months before the US experienced its first case of COVID-19 in January. Today,more than 225,000 Americans have died,8.6 million cases have been confirmed,and millions have lost their jobs in the pandemic-fuelled recession.

With hospitalisations surging in recent weeks,health experts have warned of another devastating wave unless there is major effort to mitigate the spread of the virus. At the end of last week,the US recorded almost 84,000 cases in a day,smashing the previous single-day record of 77,362 cases recorded in mid-June.

However,Trump has continued to conduct jam-packed rallies across the country that some fear could turn into super-spreader events,similar to the White House ceremony last month when multiple members of the President's inner sanctum were infected.

Those in Trump's orbit who have so far been diagnosed with COVID-19 include first lady Melania Trump,their son Barron,campaign manager Bill Stepien and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.

According toThe New York Times,at least five top aides to Pence,including chief of staff Marc Short,have now also tested positive.

Despitethe latest outbreak,the President once again downplayed the impact of the virus at a rally in New Hampshire. Instead,he claimed that Biden would reverse America's"economic comeback"if he was elected and described the Democrat a"shutdown candidate"– suggesting that Biden would impose lockdowns in order to stop further outbreaks.

However,Biden has repeatedly said he does not wish to shut down the economy but would work with states to create a national mask standard,provide schools and businesses with clear guidelines to reopen and improve testing and contact tracing,both of which have been ad hoc across the US.

Trump's COVID strategy focuses largely on fast-tracking a vaccine in record time under Operation Warp Speed:a public-private partnership set up by his administration in May as the cases began to skyrocket when states rushed to reopen.

The White House also banned travel from China earlier this year,and set up a coronavirus taskforce,led by Pence.

At a rally in North Carolina on Sunday (Monday AEDT),Pence told supporters:"President Trump's decision to suspend all travel from China saved untold American lives and bought us invaluable time to stand up the greatest national mobilisation since World War II.

"We are just a short time away from having the first safe and effective coronavirus vaccines in tens of millions of doses for the American people,"he said.