President Trump on Sunday announced that federal social-distancing guidelines would be extended to April 30 in an effort to curb the coronavirus outbreak.
The initial 15-day period of social distancing urged by the federal government was set to expire on Monday.
But “Nothing would be worse than declaring victory before the victory is won. That would be the greatest loss of all,” Trump said during a briefing outside the White House.
The US has more than 130,000 cases of COVID-19 and at least 2,300 deaths — and the death toll is expected to peak in two weeks, Trump said.
Trump had previously aimed to reopen the country on Easter, April 12, but said Sunday that was “just an aspiration.”
The mitigation methods aim to decrease the number of infections and deaths, and the more people adhere to them, “the faster this nightmare will end,” Trump said.
“I want the American people to know that your selfless, inspiring and valiant efforts are saving countless lives. You are making the difference,” he said.
At the briefing, Department of Health and Human Services assistant secretary Adm. Dr. Brett P. Giroir announced that self-swab coronavirus tests will be rolled out next week.
“It was a very big thing that the FDA approved last week and it will now be implemented this week,” Giroir said.
With the approval, people with suspected cases of COVID-19 will be able to use a foam swab in their nose to collect a sample that they would then put into a plastic bag for testing.
This would eliminate the need for health care workers to change their personal protective equipment every time they perform a test, saving much-needed resources.
“Instead of having a provider stick this all the way in the back of your nose, that’s uncomfortable but it also requires PPE changes every time it’s done,” Giroir said. “This not only increases the speed but it eliminates all those changes of PPE.”
