President Trump says he’s got a good reason for shifting from his Easter goals – he says lives will be saved by extending the administration's coronavirus social distancing guidelines until April 30th. The President extended those guidelines after previously saying he had hopes the nation would be open by Easter (April 12th).
After speaking with his Task Force, Trump said the next month is crucial in fighting the coronavirus pandemic. To that end, the President is also dropping another big number: one-million. That’s how many people he claims have been tested for COVID-19.
“The numbers have been incredible on testing,” Trump offered in a press conference. “In the days ahead we’re going to go even faster on testing.” Speaking of which, he praised a new test from Chicago-based Abbott, which can produce results in minutes. The president noted that the FDA was able to approve the test in four weeks instead of the normal months-long approval process.
Where does the United States stand with COVID-19? At last check, there are just over 164-thousand cases across the United States – with just over 3100 patients succumbing to the illness – though nearly 6-thousand have recovered. Globally, the numbers stand at just over 786-thousand people infected by the virus – with just over 37-thousand dead. On the plus side, more than 166-thousand have recovered (an increase of 10-thousand from yesterday).
ONE MORE THING! As you might recall, the President has taken a fair amount of heat for closing the White House Pandemic response office. In fact, at a press conference back on March 13th, he denied any knowledge of it – even calling it a “nasty question.” Turns out, it’s not exactly true. In fact, video of him addressing the subject in 2018 has been unearthed. “Some of the people we’ve cut they haven’t been used for many, many years and if we ever need them we can get them very quickly and rather then spending the money,” he said at the time. “I’m a business person, I don’t like having thousands of people around when you don’t need them.”
Source: White House