Sweden on Wednesday rejected claims by US President Donald Trump that its approach to containing the coronavirus was too soft and that it was "suffering" more than others.

Stockholm has not imposed extraordinary lockdown orders seen elsewhere in Europe to stem the spread of the virus, which has killed almost 700 people in the Scandinavian nation.

Asked at a White House briefing on Tuesday what advice he would offer to leaders who were sceptical of social distancing measures, Trump replied: "There aren't too many of them... They talk about Sweden, but Sweden is suffering very gravely." Instead of a lockdown, Sweden has called on citizens to take responsibility and follow social distancing guidelines and stay home if they have symptoms, and has also banned gatherings of more than 50 people and barred visits to nursing homes.