President Donald Trump urged supporters on Twitter to "LIBERATE" three states led by Democratic governors Friday, apparently encouraging the growing protests against the stay-at-home restrictions aimed at stopping the coronavirus.

The United States has now seen more than 689,000 cases and over 34,000 deaths. World coronavirus cases reached more than 2.2 million with nearly 150,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

A day after laying out a roadmap to gradually reopen the crippled economy, Trump took to Twitter with the kind of rhetoric some of his supporters have used in demanding the lifting of the stay-at-home orders that have thrown millions of Americans out of work.

"LIBERATE MINNESOTA!" "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" "LIBERATE VIRGINIA," he said in a tweet-storm in which he also lashed out at New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for criticizing the federal response. Cuomo "should spend more time 'doing' and less time 'complaining,'" the president said.

Responding to pleas across the nation from governors for help from Washington in ramping up testing for the virus, Trump put the burden back on them: "The States have to step up their TESTING!"

On Thursday, the president detailed a three-step set of guidelines for easing restrictions over a span of several weeks in places that have robust testing and are seeing a decrease in COVID-19 cases, assuring the nation's governors: "You’re going to call your own shots."

On Friday, governors of both parties suggested they would be cautious in returning to normal, with some of them warning that they can't do it without help from Washington to expand testing.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who has been critical of the government's response to the crisis, acknowledged that people are "very anxious" about their livelihoods and worried about paying the rent when they are out of work.

"But the last thing I want to do is to have a second wave here, so we've got to be really smart," she said.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican and Trump ally endorsed the White House plan but made clear that he will listen to medical experts in deciding how to move forward. He said more testing is needed before any restrictions can be rolled back.

"I am not going to do something that I feel in my heart is the wrong thing that’s going to endanger our people," he said.

Other states did take some of the nation's first, small steps toward loosening restrictions.

In Florida, GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis gave the green light for municipalities to reopen beaches and parks if they can do so safely. In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said stores can begin selling curbside, nonessential surgery can resume and state parks can reopen.

New York Governor Cuomo, whose state is the most lethal hot spot in the nation and is still seeing over 600 deaths a day, accused the government of "passing the buck without passing the bucks."

"The federal government cannot wipe its hands of this and say, 'Oh, the states are responsible for testing.' We cannot do it. We cannot do it without federal help," he said.

Even in largely rural states with small populations, like Wyoming, Maine and South Dakota, governors said they were not anxious to quickly resume business as usual.

"Until we've got the testing up to speed — which has got to be part of the federal government stepping in and helping — we're just not going to be there," said Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, a Republican.

The shutdowns have inflicted heavy damage on economies around the world. In the U.S., the crisis has cost at least 22 millions Americans their jobs, pushing the unemployment rate toward levels not seen since the Great Depression.

Public health experts have warned that an easing of the shutdowns must be accompanied by wider testing and tracing of infected people to keep the virus from coming back with a vengeance.

DEATH COUNTS REVISED

The official death toll in New York City soared by more than half earlier this week when health authorities began including people who probably had COVID-19 but died without being tested. Nearly 3,800 deaths were added to the city's count.

Authorities said that almost everywhere, thousands have died with COVID-19 symptoms — many in nursing homes — without being tested for the virus, and have thus gone uncounted.

Nursing home deaths across the United States total at least 6,900, the New York Times reported Friday.

Many countries around the world are revising up their death tolls from the coronavirus. 

China reported that the coronavirus death toll in the one-time epicenter city of Wuhan was nearly 50% higher than reported, amounting to more than 4,600.

In Italy, where the official toll has climbed past 22,000, a government survey released Friday of about one-third of the country's nursing homes found more than 6,000 residents have died since Feb. 1. It was unclear how many were a result of COVID-19.

In Britain, with an official count of about 14,600 dead, the country’s statistics agency said the actual number could be around 15% higher. Others think it will be far more.

Story with information from the Associated Press.

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