US awaits painful two weeks ahead, predicting more than 100,000 deaths

US President Donald Trump warned of a "painful" and "tough" two-week stretch ahead as he extended nationwide distancing measures that even if followed closely could still mean more than 100,000 and up to 240,000 Americans die from coronavirus.

Iran PressAmerica: It was a stark message from a Trump who spent weeks downplaying the severity of the coronavirus and questioned its potential impact in the United States.

Trump said to Americans that darker days are still to come.

"I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. We're going to go through a very tough two weeks," Trump said, setting expectations for a dire fortnight where death rates spike.

He was speaking during a White House news conference meant to formally reissue nationwide coronavirus guidelines after Trump faced with dire models showing hundreds of thousands of potential American deaths, polls indicating support for social distancing and calamitous scenes at New York hospitals determined another 30 days of social distancing were necessary to avert disaster.

The US death toll from the coronavirus past 3,800 on Tuesday, eclipsing China’s official count. Trump has been widely condemned for exacerbating the crisis by failing to prepare testing kits, breathing apparatus and other equipment.

On Tuesday US experts said their models showed between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans could die from the coronavirus even if the country keeps mitigation measures in place.

Trump spoke after another bad day for the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 400 points, or roughly 1.9%, to seal the worst first-quarter finish of its 135-year history.

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