The US government's top infectious disease expert warned Congress Tuesday that ending lockdowns too quickly could bring severe consequences including new outbreaks of coronavirus just as the country tries to overcome the pandemic.

File photo by AFP

"If a community or a state or region doesn't go by those guidelines (on safely ending lockdowns) and reopens... the consequences could be really serious," Anthony Fauci told a Senate panel.

Fauci acknowledged that US deaths caused by the virus are likely higher than the roughly 80,000 fatalities in the current official government toll.