'I'm a cheerleader for the country': Trump on situation in US amid Coronavirus outbreak

Amid the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak, the United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday called himself a "cheerleader for the country". He also told the people of America to brace for "very painful" weeks ahead in a worsening coronavirus pandemic projected to claim up to the quarter-million US lives.

Addressing the media Trump said, "I don't want to be negative... This is easy to be negative about but I want to give people hope too. You know, I'm a cheerleader for the country. We are going through the worst thing that the country has never seen... I want to give people in this country hope." 

"This is going to be a very painful -- a very, very painful -- two weeks," the president said at the White House as he described the pandemic as "a plague. I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead," he added.

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Coronavirus pandemic 

With more than 42,000 already killed by the disease barrelling around the globe, the United States, home to the largest number of confirmed infections, hit a bleak milestone as its national death toll surpassed China's. As field hospitals sprouted in the US outbreak's epicentre New York City, Trump said he was extending social distancing and stay-at-home orders for another 30 days.

The United States has over 187,347 confirmed cases and has seen its death toll top 3,800, roaring past China's official tally of 3,309. In a matter of months, the virus has infected more than 850,000 people in a crisis hammering the global economy and transforming the daily existence of some 3.6 billion people told to stay home under lockdowns.

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(with agencies input)