Trump voices hope for 'leveling-off' of coronavirus in US hot spots

People wear masks while walking through Brooklyn, New York, on April 5, 2020. PHOTO: AFP

WASHINGTON (REUTERS, AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Sunday (April 5) expressed hope that the United States was seeing a "leveling-off" of the coronavirus crisis in some of the nation's hot spots, saying Americans were starting to see "the light at the end of the tunnel."

New York, the hardest-hit state, reported on Sunday that for the first time in a week deaths had fallen slightly from the day before, but there were still nearly 600 new fatalities and more than 7,300 new cases.

"Maybe that's a good sign," Mr Trump told reporters, referring to the drop in fatalities.

The United States faces a critical week in the coronavirus crisis, with government officials warning that the death toll in places such as New York, Michigan and Louisiana was a sign of trouble to come in other states.

The US surgeon general warned on Sunday: This is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans' lives, quite frankly.".

But a few governors still resisted issuing stay-at-home orders and a handful of churches held large Palm Sunday services.

Most states have ordered residents to stay home except for essential trips to slow the spread of the virus in the United States where over 335,000 people have tested positive and over 9,500 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

White House medical experts have forecast that between 100,000 to 240,000 Americans could die in the pandemic, even if sweeping orders to stay home are followed.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday that new hospitalisations had fallen by 50 per cent over the previous 24 hours, but he cautioned it was not yet clear whether the crisis was reaching a plateau in the state, which has 4,159 deaths and more than 122,000 cases.

"We're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel," Trump said. But he added: "You can never be happy when so many people are dying."

Places such as Pennsylvania, Colorado and Washington, DC, are starting to see rising deaths.

"It's going to be happening all over the country. And I want America to understand that," US Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned on Fox News on Sunday.

Adams, the surgeon general, said governors who had not issued month-long stay-at-home orders should at least consider one for the upcoming week.

A few churches were holding large gatherings on Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week in Christian churches. Pastor Tony Spell, who was arrested last week for holding services, summoned his faithful again, three weeks after Louisiana banned gatherings of 10 people or more.

Louisiana has become a hot spot for the virus, reporting a jump in deaths to nearly 500 and more than 13,000 cases. The governor predicted the state would run out of ventilators by Thursday.

Trump said the United States was "very far down the line" on developing vaccines for the coronavirus. "We'll see what happens," he said.

Trump also said he was "hopeful and sure" Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was hospitalised for further coronavirus tests after testing positive, would recover from Covid-19.

"He is a friend of mine, he is a great gentleman, a great leader. He was brought to the hospital today but I am hopeful and sure that he is going to be fine," Trump said at his White House briefing. "He is a strong man, a strong person."

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