Speaking during the daily Wuhan coronavirus task force briefing Tuesday evening, President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx told Americans the next two weeks are going to be extremely difficult.
"This could be a hell of a bad two weeks. This is going to be a very bad two and maybe even three weeks. This is going to be three weeks we haven't seen before," President Trump said. "They [hospitals] are going to be facing a war zone. That's what it is."
"It's absolutely critical for the American people to follow the guidelines for the next 30 days. It's a matter of life and death, frankly," he continued.
When asked if we can expect to see at least 100,000 deaths from the disease, Dr. Fauci said the "sobering" numbers could be the reality.
"As sobering a number as that is, we should be prepared for it. Is it going to be that much? I hope not and I think the more we push on the mitigation, the less likely it would be that number. But as being realistic, we need to prepare ourselves that that is a possibility we will see,” Fauci said.
The goal, of course, is to keep the numbers as low as possible. The number is based on modeling, which can change.
Dr. Fauci explains that modeling is not perfect and it changes with more data. pic.twitter.com/F03EgeM2np
— ALX ???? (@alx) March 31, 2020
White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Birx says modeling projects 100,000 to 200,000 American deaths, with more "stringent people following" guidelines. pic.twitter.com/inxqs1WVhX
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 31, 2020
"We're going to work our hearts out," Vice President Mike Pence said, pleading with Americans to follow new 30-day guidelines.
15 days ago we published our nationwide guidelines to slow the spread of the Coronavirus.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 31, 2020
President Trump has extended these guidelines through April 30. pic.twitter.com/ZC6deS7A04