US President Donald Trump speaks during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, at the White House, on Monday, in Washington, DC. Photo: AFP

US President Donald Trump announced Monday that the United States has tested 1 million people in the country for the novel coronavirus.

"Today we reached a historic milestone in our war against the coronavirus. Over 1 million Americans have been tested -- more than any other country by far," Trump told a White House briefing.

Alex Azar, US Secretary of Health and Human Services, said the United States is now testing 100,000 samples a day in their effort to combat the outbreak.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has topped 160,020 as of Monday evening, with 2,953 deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.