President Trump officially reversed his call to reopen businesses by Easter, saying he will extend the nation’s coronavirus social distancing guidelines to April 30.
At his daily briefing at the White House, Trump said: “the modeling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks. Nothing would be worse than declaring victory before the victory is won.” The guidelines cover work from home directives, travel limitations, business closures and other efforts to combat the virus.
The President said that his office will give more details about the new plans on Tuesday, adding, “we can expect that by June 1st, we will be well on our way to recovery. We think by June 1st, a lot of great things will be happening.” The announcement came just days after the president said he hoped that Easter things would be back to normal. In the interim, Trump said that his public health advisers recommended against loosening social distancing restrictions in states or regions that haven’t been as hard hit by the virus, as had previously been discussed.
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