(Fox News)
President Trump on Sunday declared that “the peak in death rate” in the coronavirus pandemic “is likely to hit in two weeks,” and said the federal government will be extending its social-distancing guidelines through April 30 as he attempted to brace nation for the possibility than 100,000 to 200,000 in the U.S. could die from the deadly virus.
“The modelling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks,” he said at the White House Rose Garden. “I will say it again. The peak, the highest point of death rates, remember this, is likely to hit in two weeks… Therefore, we will be extending our guidelines to April 30, to slow the spread,” the president said in the White House Rose Garden.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2020
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2020
In response to a question at the briefing, Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, reiterated his estimate from earlier in the day that it remained possible that 100,000 to 200,000 people could die in the United States. “What we’re trying to do is not let that happen,” he said, calling the extension of social-distancing guidelines “a wise and prudent decision.” Over 2,300 people with the virus already have died in the U.S.
The president’s White House coronavirus news briefing on Sunday was often contentious and involved testy standoffs with multiple reporters. Saying his earlier hope that the country could reopen by Easter was “just an aspiration.” Amid grim news, he tried to be optimistic, saying, “We can expect that by June 1, we will be well on our way to recovery” and that “a lot of great things will be happening.”
