President Trump: "The Next Two Weeks Will Be the Toughest Period for COVID-19"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] U.S. President Donald Trump stated on the 4th (local time) regarding the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), "This week and next week will be the toughest period in the fight against COVID-19."

According to local U.S. media on the day, President Trump said at the White House briefing of the COVID-19 task force (TF), "Probably the week between this week and next week will be the hardest," and added, "And unfortunately, there will be many deaths."

He also added that the number of deaths would be much smaller than if mitigation measures (to reduce infections) were not taken.

In response, CNN reported that President Trump painted a bleak picture of what lies ahead.

However, at the briefing, President Trump emphasized his determination to normalize economic activities, saying, "We hope to reopen this country," and "At some point, we will have to make a big decision."

He said, "America must reopen," and "We do not want to continue this situation for months."

Earlier, on the 31st of last month, President Trump extended the 'social distancing' guidelines but mentioned, "We are facing a very difficult two weeks in the fight against COVID-19," and "It will be a very, very painful two weeks."

At that time, the White House introduced a predictive model that estimated 100,000 to 240,000 deaths even if 'social distancing' was implemented.

Along with this, at the briefing on the day, President Trump said, "We will add a huge number of military support personnel," and "Under my orders, 1,000 additional military personnel are being deployed to New York City to support the areas most in need."

He explained that New York City is "the largest outbreak area among the concentrated outbreak regions," and that the deployed personnel include military doctors and nurses.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.