President Trump on Saturday warned that the United States is approaching what could be the country’s roughest stretch yet amid the escalating coronavirus outbreak while saying that the country can’t stay closed forever.
“This will be probably the toughest week, between this week and next week,” Mr. Trump said at the White House daily briefing on the COVID-19 outbreak. “There [will] be a lot of death, unfortunately.”
Mr. Trump spoke as the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. jumped above 300,000 on Saturday. There have been more than 8,000 coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. and at least 10,000 people have officially recovered, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
Mr. Trump said their sole consideration is trying to save lives, and chided “certain media outlets” for spreading unspecified false rumors.
“I guess they’re looking for ratings — I don’t know what they’re looking for,” he said. “It’s so bad for our country.”
Mr. Trump also said repeatedly that the U.S. can’t stay closed forever.
“We’re going to make sure that it’s over soon, and just keep going — it’s not going to be long,” the president said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said they will be keeping a close eye on the number of new cases and urged the public to continue to adhere to “social distancing” practices the government is recommending.
“As sobering and as difficult as this is, what we are doing is making a difference,” said Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Mr. Trump announced recently that the federal government is extending the guidance that people should stay home and avoid crowds if possible until April 30.
“Hopefully the kinds of mitigations that we’re talking about are going to have the impact to allow us to begin to think about maybe changing a bit,” Dr. Fauci said.
In a break from past guidance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also now recommending that the general public wear cloth coverings over their faces when people venture out in public.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had estimated earlier in the day that the “apex” in New York, the hardest-hit state, was likely about a week away.
“This is a painful, disorienting situation,” Mr. Cuomo said. “This day will end and we will get through it and we will get to the other side of the mountain. And we will be better for it. But we have to do what we have to do between now and then.”
