Washington, Apr 13 (IANS): A partial reopening of the US economy could begin in May, Anthony Fauci, director of the country's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, while cautioning that there was a potential for a second COVID-19 outbreak in the fall.

Parts of the US economy could have "a gradual reentry of some sort of normality, some rolling reentry", Xinhua news agency quoted Fauci as saying on CNN on Sunday.

"There is always a possibility as we get into next fall and beginning of early winter that we can see a rebound," he added.

Meanwhile, the path of US economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic could be a "long, hard road", a senior Federal Reserve official said on Sunday.

"This could be a long, hard road that we have ahead of us until we get to either an effective therapy or a vaccine. It's hard for me to see a V-shaped recovery under that scenario," Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, told CBS News.

The United States has become the country with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases and fatalities worldwide.

As of Monday morning, the overall number of coronavirus cases and fatalities in the US has increased to 557,571 and 22,108, respectively.

With this, the US now accounts for the highest number of cases and deaths in the world.