Las Vegas became the latest major US city to shut down today amid fears the coronavirus is plunging America into a worse recession than the 2008 financial meltdown.

The lights are going out in “Sin City” for 30 days, leaving thousands more out of work.

The virus had spread to all 50 US states after West Virginia reported its first case. The death toll has risen to 108 and there have been more than 6,300 confirmed cases.

The blackout in Las Vegas — the city’s first since the day of John F. Kennedy’s funeral in 1963 — was coming into force at noon today, bringing all gambling to an immediate halt.

In Minnesota, the country’s largest shopping centre, the Mall of America, announced it was shutting until April.

Schools across the US were closing today or had already closed. California Governor Gavin Newsom warned that students in the state were unlikely to return before the start of the autumn term. “Don’t anticipate schools are going to open up in a week. Please don’t anticipate in a few weeks,” he said at a news conference in Sacramento. “I would plan, and assume, that it’s unlikely that many of these schools — few, if any — will open before the summer break.”

The Trump administration is said to be considering a plan to close America’s border with Mexico and return any migrants and asylum seekers trying to cross it illegally rather than detain them.

With millions of workers facing pay cuts and job losses, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin warned that unemployment could soar as high as 20 per cent if the economy goes into free-fall.

The US jobless rate was at a half-century low of 3.5 per cent last month.

Mr Mnuchin was urging lawmakers to back a $1 trillion coronavirus stimulus package that could include direct payments of $1,000 to every American. At a meeting with Republican senators on Capitol Hill, the treasury chief reportedly said the financial fallout from the crisis could be worse than the 2008 recession.

He is said to have claimed a swift and decisive financial response is vital to help small and medium-sized businesses survive, adding: “It is a big number. This is a very unique situation for this economy.

“This is a combination of loans. This is a combination of direct cheques to individuals. This is a combination of creating liquidity for small businesses.”

Asked about the 20 per cent jobless figure, Treasury Department spokeswoman Monica Crowley said Mr Mnuchin was detailing possible scenarios rather than making predictions.

The Federal Reserve has already cut interests rates to nearly zero and eased lending restrictions. Now Mr Mnuchin wants to send out $250 billion in cheques at the start of April followed by a second round costing around $500 billion a month later if there is no let up in the spread of the virus.

Several cities, including New York, are now considering adopting the “shelter in place” orders already set up in the San Francisco area.

“It’s a very, very difficult decision,” New York mayor Bill de Blasio said of the move to largely confine people to their homes. “I have never heard of anything like this in the history of New York City.”

President Donald Trump said he was still pondering a domestic travel ban. “You can do a national lockdown,” he added. “Hopefully, we’re not going to need that. It’s a very big step.”