Donald Trump extends coronavirus lockdown until April 30 and says the pandemic will peak in TWO WEEKS – but insists he never threatened to quarantine New York and his Easter deadline was just an ‘aspiration’
- Donald Trump said Sunday that the administration is extending the coronavirus guidelines, originally imposed for 15 days, until April 30 – a 30 day extension
- He admitted that his Easter deadline for the country to be up and running was just an ‘aspiration’
- The president also said that it’s likely the fast-spreading respiratory virus will peak in two weeks, which is right around Easter
- ‘The modeling estimates that the peak is likely to hit in two weeks,’ he said during his daily coronavirus task force briefing at the White House on Sunday
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Donald Trump said Sunday the administration’s coronavirus task force’s 15-day plan to reduce the spread of the disease is being extended 30 days, which is weeks past his Easter deadline.
He also claimed during his daily press briefing at the White House Sunday evening that the peak of coronavirus is expected to hit in two weeks, even though the death toll in the U.S. doubled from 1,000 to 2,000 in just one day.
‘The modeling estimates that the peak is likely to hit in two weeks. So, I’ll say it again: The peak – the highest point of death rates, remember this – is likely to hit in two week,’ Trump said during his remarks in the Rose Garden. ‘Nothing would be worse than declaring before the victory is won. That would be the greatest loss of all.’
The president said the administration would be extending its original 15-day guidelines for another 30 days.
Trump said last week that he was hoping the whole crisis would have blown over by Easter, which is April 12, but admitted Sunday that that deadline was just an ‘aspiration’ and that Easter could end up being the ‘spike’ in deaths.
Donald Trump said Sunday that the administration is extending the coronavirus guidelines, originally imposed for 15 days, until April 30 – a 30 day extension
He also claimed that the peak in coronavirus deaths and cases would likely peak in the U.S. in two weeks, which is Easter
Reporters gathered in the Rose Garden for the press briefing Sunday as temperatures reached 70 in Washington D.C. – and chairs were seated one to two feet apart from one another as they continue practicing social distancing
‘Was floating Easter a mistake?’ a reporter asked him after the president was finished making his prepared remarks.
‘No. It was just an aspiration. We actually will be hitting, potentially… on Easter we’re probably – that could be a peak. That could be a peak period. That could be the peak – sadly to say – that could be the peak number of deaths before it starts coming down. No, that was aspirational,’ he said.
‘We had an aspiration of Easter,’ the president continued. ‘But when you hear this kind of numbers and you hear the potential travesty we don’t want to do anything where, you know – we don’t want to have a spike up.’
‘We don’t want to do it soon and then all of the sudden you go down, you’re coming down and then you start coming up again. Because we discussed that could happen. We’ve gone through too much.’ he said of the guidance and lockdowns ending.
Trump added the administration would now be extending the 15-day guidelines put forth by the task force earlier this month until April 30.
‘The next two weeks, and during this period, it’s very important that everyone strongly follow the guidelines,’ Trump said. ‘The better you do, the faster this whole nightmare will end. Therefore, we will be extending our guidelines to April 30, to slow the spread. On Tuesday we will be finalizing these plans.’
The federal guidelines include recommendations for individuals on how to slow the spread of the respiratory disease and include measures such as limiting social gatherings to 10 or less people.
Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the White House coronavirus task force, often holds up a paper detailing the guidelines they say is and will continue to flatten the curve.