Trump extends virus guidelines, braces US for big death toll

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By ZEKE MILLER and JILL COLVIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bracing the nation for a death toll that could exceed 100,000 people, President Donald Trump on Sunday extended restrictive social distancing guidelines through April, bowing to public-health experts who presented him with even more dire projections for the expanding coronavirus pandemic.

It was a stark shift in tone by the president, who only days ago mused about the country reopening in a few weeks. From the Rose Garden, he said his Easter revival hopes had only been “aspirational.”

The initial 15-day period of social distancing urged by the federal government expires Monday and Trump had expressed interest in relaxing the national guidelines at least in parts of the country less afflicted by the pandemic. He instead decided to extend them through April 30, a tacit acknowledgment he’d been too optimistic. Many states and local governments have stiffer controls in place on mobility and gatherings.

Trump’s impulse to reopen the country met a sober reality check Sunday from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, who said the U.S. could experience more than 100,000 deaths and millions of infections from the pandemic. That warning hardened a recognition in Washington that the struggle against the coronavirus will not be resolved quickly even as Trump expressed a longing for normalcy.



President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing in the Rose Garden of the White House, Sunday, March 29, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)


Read more: https://apnews.com/7d851c87c07a7e0f67c245abe0d86e56

[Harker]

1. Maybe the penny has finally dropped.

Plenty more stupidity yet to come, though.

[Blues Heron]

2. 30 times China with 1/4 the population?

[Jarqui]

5. That's probably a "best case" scenario ...

Horrific doesn't seem like it says nearly enough

The GOP, who enabled this clown long after it was obvious he was in over his head and a chronic liar & crook, also need to be held responsible.

[davekriss]

10. I thought Dr Fauci made it clear ...

... when he expounded upon ‘models’ this afternoon in the Rose Garden (he’s made the point elsewhere): 100,000 to 200,000 dead is a best case, assumes everything goes our way; 1,800,000 to 2,200,000 dead would be a worst case, what would likely happen if we did nothing (er, like openly celebrating Mardi Gras, or leaving the beaches open for spring break). Dr Fauci made his opinion clear, almost always with modeling, the results fall somewhere in between. Let’s hope it veers to the optimistic side!

Stay safe, everyone.

[LudwigPastorius]

7. "Believe me. Many people are saying that's a perfect death toll."

[customerserviceguy]

9. I can't believe

China's figures. South Korea, Italy, France, sure, but not China.

[PubliusEnigma]

11. The people of Wuhan believe 42,000 died, not the official 3,000.

[customerserviceguy]

14. By the time

we can verify the truth, it will be way after this is over with.

[underpants]

3. Pretty soft treatment by AP. He's spiking the football on 100,000 deaths

Last edited Sun Mar 29, 2020, 10:52 PM - Edit history (1)

compared to one model (not sure how long ago) that showed 2.2 Million deaths.

Oh and he publicly had to reverse his dumb ass Easter prediction.

[LudwigPastorius]

4. "...he publicly had to reverse his dumb ass Easter prediction."

At this point, I'm not even sure Trump remembers the shit he has said.

I think he's like a cat or some other small mammal. He just wakes up in a new world every day.

[Grokenstein]

18. He'll just refuse to answer any questions about it.

Just like he does when it comes to the investigative team bringing that yuuuuge bombshell about Obama's birth certificate back from Hawaii, he'll either bark "just move on" at whomever asks about it or fold his arms and go into his "zen pout" and the safety of whatever gross coke-fueled fantasyland lurks inside his septic tank of a skull.

He's way too busy coming up with new bullshit to spray at us to concern himself with the old bullshit.

[central scrutinizer]

8. Now he'll claim it would have been 2.2 million

If not for his beautiful, perfect, tremendous leadership.

[msongs]

6. brags about death toll is more like it. he's gonna be number one again nt

[mountain grammy]

12. I'm longing for a return to normalcy

But it’ll never happen until trump is gone

[olddad65]

19. Make Orwell Fiction Again.

[ResistantAmerican17]

13. And imagine his Nielson's......

hugest mass murderer in American history.

[not fooled]

15. Exposing his gigantic error in judgement

from saying only a couple of weeks ago that it would basically go away, to this.

He should be excoriated for such a colossal failure of judgement.

[SergeStorms]

17. Happy 4,000th post, not fooled!

[not fooled]

20. Thank you

I didn't notice. Thanks for pointing it out. I took a screen capture. Wish the occasion was not so grim.

[SergeStorms]

21. It's nice to remember these milestones.

Then we can see how we've progressed, and how the world's progressed or regressed. After Trump, the only way is up!

[SergeStorms]

16. That REALLY had to frost Trump's flakes.

There will be NO EASTER MIRACLE! And here I thought Little Donnie and the MAGAts had a direct hotline to the Angry Daddy in the Sky. The evangelicals must feel betrayed, by both Little Donnie and Dog.

By the way, 'Little Donnie and the MAGAts' would be a great name for a rock and roll band!

[xxqqqzme]

22. Really loaded him up with the

orange today. Must be a new assistant to the person spraying the juice.

[llmart]

25. Not just the orange...

take a look at his eyes. He's loaded up on something else too.

The guy's been loaded up on drugs for quite some time.

[OhioChick]

23. I have a bad feeling that the death toll

Is going to far exceed this 100-200,000 that seems to be thrown around.



Hey Steve!

[Rube Icon]

24. TRUMP CAVES

Those are the two words we should be posting on every wingnut site we can find!

[Mc Mike]

26. Rump is so much more successful than li'l bush.

Little georgie only managed to kill about 15 thousand Americans, between 9/11, Katrina, Iraq, and Afghanistan. And it took him 2 full terms to do so.