Trump tells nation toughest weeks yet to come, filled with ‘a lot of death’.
Fauci urges Americans to continue social distancing for protection
Washington — President Donald Trump on Saturday returned to the idea of opening up the country’s economy as soon as possible, even as he said the United States was heading into what could be its “toughest” weeks as coronavirus cases swell nationwide.
“There will be a lot of death, unfortunately. There will be death,” Trump said in a somber start to his daily briefing on the pandemic.
Joining Trump were Vice President Mike Pence, virus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s foremost infection disease expert. Each stood far apart from one another on the small stage.
The president initially had suggested the country could reopen by Easter but pulled back seeing projections of a staggering death toll even if restrictive measures remain in place. But just days after extending tough national guidelines through the end of April, staring down historic levels of unemployment and economic standstill, he was talking with leaders of professional sports leagues about filling arenas again.
“This country was not designed to be closed,” he said. “The cure cannot be worse than the problem.”
The number of people infected in the U.S. has exceeded 30,000, with the death toll climbing past 8,100; more than 3,500 of those deaths are in the state of New York.
Much of the country is under orders to stay home, including professional sports leagues that were among the first to clamp down in the pandemic.
Trump spoke with commissioners of the country’s sports leagues, telling them he hoped to get people back in seats as soon as possible.
But health officials offered some hope that social distance measures were working. Fauci said he saw social distancing efforts as he went out for a walk in Washington, D.C., and saw people waiting 6 feet apart for restaurant take out.
“As sobering and as difficult as this is, what we are doing is making a difference,” Fauci said.
Trump suggested that some states were asking for more medical supplies than they really needed. He said the goal was to stay several days ahead of critical medical needs in each state.
“The fears of the shortages have led to inflated requests,” he said.
Louisiana officials have said New Orleans is on track to run out of ventilators by next week. Gov. Andrew
Cuomo, D-N.Y., whose state is at the epicenter of the national pandemic with over 113,700 confirmed cases as of Saturday morning, has pleaded for ventilators for days and lambasted what he has said is insufficient help from the federal government. New York is poised to get more than 1,100 ventilators from China and Oregon.
Trump on Saturday continued to tout hydroxychloroquine, a drug long used to treat malaria, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, after very small preliminary studies suggested it might help prevent the coronavirus from entering cells and possibly help patients clear the virus sooner. But the drug has major potential side effects, especially for the heart, and large studies are underway to see if it is safe and effective for treating COVID-19.
Trump suggested he may consider whether he should start taking the drug, even though he’s not been diagnosed. Some studies are testing whether hydroxychloroquine can help prevent infections in health care workers, but none has suggested that others, such as the president, should take it to prevent infection.
“As sobering and as difficult as this is, what we are doing is making a difference.”
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES