The US is currently the nation most affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with over 135,000 confirmed cases and over 2,400 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
US President Donald Trump during a Sunday press briefing extended social distancing recommendations to 30 April to slow the spread of the disease.
"We will be extending our guidelines to 30 April to slow the spread. On Tuesday we will be finalizing these plans and providing the summary of our findings […] to the American people," Trump said during the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing on Sunday.
He said that coronavirus death toll's peak is likely to hit the country over the next two weeks.
"The modelling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks," the president stated.
According to reports, Trump was inferring that if the US can hold coronavirus deaths to 200,000 instead of the possible 2.2 million, it would mean that his administration had done "a really good job".
"If we can hold that down to 100,000, it’s a horrible number, maybe even less ... so if we have between 100,000 and 200,000 we all together have done a really good job," Trump told reporters.
Trump also said he expects the US "will be well on our way to recovery" by 1 June and promised that "a lot of great things will be happening". Previously, he set the target for the country's recovery for Easter.
Federal guidelines for social distancing recommend that older people and those at risk stay home and keep away from others, also advising avoiding social gatherings and staying away from public places.
On Partial US Quarantine
Trump said he decided against enforcing a quarantine in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut partly because he thought "it was too much to do" even though the professional opinion was different.
"A lot of our professionals suggested quarantine … What happened is people, professionals, very good professionals, love the idea of doing that, because that’s sort of the ultimate indistancing … so the concept of quarantine was thrown out to me … and I thought it was too much to do … also, it’s very hard to enforce," Trump said at the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing on Sunday.
The president added that the travel advisory released by the Centre for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut on Saturday was working well. Earlier, the CDC issued a travel advisory for the three states urging residents not to travel for at least 14 days.
As the world peaks beyond 718,000 cases resulting in at least 33,000 deaths, the US has confirmed over 135,000 coronavirus cases and over 2,400 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
