Washington: Some one lakh people in the US may die from the coronavirus pandemic and the peak death rate was likely to hit the country in two weeks, President Donald Trump has warned, citing his health experts as he extended the “social distancing” guidelines until April 30. His statement came as the death toll in New York state, America’s epicentre of COVID-19, crossed the 1,000 mark, with Governor Andrew Cuomo warning that thousands of people may die before the crisis ends.
The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the US stood at 143,025 and 2,509 people have died in the country, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Assuring his countrymen that he expects the US to be on its way to recovery by June 1, Trump told reporters at a televised White House news conference that he had to extend the social distancing measures till April 30, based on the advice from his two top public health advisors and members of the White House Task Force on Coronavirus: Dr Deborah Bix and Dr Anthony Fauci. “They demonstrate that the mitigation measures we are putting in place may significantly reduce the number of new infections and ultimately the number of fatalities.
“I want the American people to know that your selfless inspiring and valiant efforts are saving countless lives. You are making a difference. The modeling estimates that the peak and death rate is likely to hit in two weeks,” Trump said during his second Rose Garden press conference on the coronavirus outbreak.
Trump predicted his decision would save hundreds of thousands of lives, in an apparent moving of the political goalposts to account for the fast worsening US pandemic. “2.2 million people would have died if we didn’t do what we are doing,” the President said. “If we can hold that number down … to 100,000, it’s a horrible number, maybe even less … we all, all together have done a very good job,” Trump said. “We can expect that by June 1 we will be well on our way to recovery,” he said.
The coronavirus pandemic is expanding fast in New York’s neighbouring New Jersey, where so far more than 13,000 cases have been reported, with 161 deaths. More than 20 of the 50 American states have recorded over 1,000 coronavirus cases — the number from where the deadly disease starts skyrocketing. Major disaster declaration has been notified in nearly two dozen states, in addition to Trump declaring a national emergency a week ago.
The state governments and local city officials have started taking tough measures against those found in the public or not abiding by social distancing measures.
In New York city, Trump told reporters as to how freezer trucks are being brought to a city hospital – Elmuhrst in Queens – where he grew for the deceased due to fatalities. The city is now running out of morgues. (PTI)