Trump extends social distancing guidelines until April 30 to curb COVID-19 spread

In a bid to contain the rapid spread of coronavirus infection that has killed over 2,000 people in the United States, President Donald Trump on Sunday (local time) announced to extend the measures under social distancing guidelines till April 30.

Briefing the press at the White House on COVID-19, the President said, "We will be extending our guidelines to April 30 to slow the spread."

"On Tuesday, we will be finalizing these plans and providing a summary of our findings, supporting data and strategy to the American people," CNN quoted him as saying.

As of Sunday evening, the tally of COVID-19 infections in the US surged past 139,000, while at least 2,425 people were reported to have succumbed to the killer bug.

 

The Trump administration had issued guidelines on social distancing on March 16 aimed at containing the virus outbreak.

The guidelines, which were initially made for a 15-day time frame, urged Americans to avoid accumulating in groups of more than 10 people and advised that older people stay home.

On Sunday, Trump said he hoped the country will be on its way to recovery by June 1.

"A lot of great things will be happening," the president noted with a tone of alarm.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued the travel advisory Saturday, urging residents of the three states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to "refrain from nonessential domestic travel for 14 days effective immediately."

The states would have "full discretion" on implementing the advisory, which exempts employees in critical fields.

The United States surpassed China and Italy this week, with more than 13,00,00 positive cases, becoming the country with the most confirmed cases worldwide. And the growing number of cases has also revealed new demographics facing severe illness.

Cases of young adults developing severe illnesses have been more widely reported, but children were thought to be avoiding the harshest effects.

On Saturday, state officials reported the death of an infant under age 1 who tested positive for coronavirus and is believed to be the youngest person to die of the virus in the United States.