Iran Press/America: Speaking at a contentious White House coronavirus news briefing on Sunday, Donald Trump 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.
The modeling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks. 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 US president said in the White House.
Saying his earlier hope that the country could reopen by Easter was "just an aspiration," Trump added: "We can expect that be June 1, we will be well on our way to recovery" and that "a lot of great things will be happening."
Trump said that he had seen early estimates that 2.2 million people could have died if the government had done nothing in a worst-case scenario, so "if we can hold that down to 100,000" or less, it would be a "good job."
According to the latest official figures, the US has confirmed more than 141,000 cases of Covid-19, and 2,457 deaths.
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