The number of deaths caused by the novel coronavirus rose to 1,041 in the United States as of Wednesday, with 68,960 confirmed cases nationwide, according to the latest data from the Johns Hopkins University.

The state of New York, the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S. has about half of the country's overall cases, with more than 30,800 patients.

Americans need to prepare for a second cycle of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, warned Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at a White House press briefing earlier. 

Fauci has also warned the possibility that the disease will become a seasonal cyclic event. 

"What we're starting to see in the Southern Hemisphere of Southern Africa and the Southern Hemisphere countries, is that we're having cases that are appearing as they go into their winter season," he said. "If they have a substantial outbreak, it will be inevitable that we need to be prepared that we'll get a cycle a second time," Fauci told reporters. 

With the soaring number of both confirmed cases and deaths, the U.S. is taking more measures to control the pandemic. 

Washington D.C.'s municipal government has ordered all non-essential businesses in the U.S. capital to close for a month starting on Wednesday night.

"This Mayor's Order requires temporary closure of the on-site operation of all non-essential businesses and prohibits gatherings of 10 or more people," Mayor Muriel Bowser's office said in a statement.