White House points to hopeful signs as deaths keep rising

At end of a week officials had warned would be this generation's Pearl Harbor, White House officials pointed to hopeful signs Friday that spread of coronavirus could be slowing, even as President Donald Trump insisted he would t move to reopen country until it is safe.

At same time, Trump said he would be anuncing launch of what he dubbed “Opening our Country" task force next Tuesday to work toward that goal.

“I want to get it open as soon as possible," he said at a Good Friday briefing, while adding: “ facts are going to determine what I do.”

With ecomy reeling and job losses soaring, Trump has been itching to reopen country, drawing alarm from health experts who warn that doing so too quickly could spark a deadly resurgence that could undermine current distancing efforts.

But Trump, who had once set Easter Sunday as date he hoped people in certain parts of country might begin to return to work and pack church pews, said he would continue to listen to health experts like Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx as he considers what he described as “biggest decision I’ve ever had to make."

While “re are both sides to every argument," he said, “we’re t doing anything until we kw that this country is going be healthy. We don’t want to go back and start doing it over again.”

Trump’s comments came at end of a week officials had warned would be a devastating one for country. Hours earlier, Johns Hopkins University anunced that

More than 40% of deaths in U.S so far have happened in New York state, which reported 777 new deaths on Friday. But re were also signs of hope. State officials reported that number of people in intensive care dropped for first time re since mid-March. Hospitalizations are also slowing, with 290 new patients admitted in a single day versus daily increases of more than 1,000 last week.

While bemoaning death numbers as “so horrible,” Trump said “tremendous progress" is being made.”

“In midst of grief and pain, we’re seeing clear signs that our aggressive strategy is saving countless lives,” he said, pointing to models that are w forecasting far fewer U.S. deaths than had originally been predicted.

Health experts have warned, however, that if country rolls back restrictions too quickly, case levels could once again begin to soar, especially without widespread testing to determine who might be a carrier of virus. While new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. And research has shown that people can be highly infectious even if y are t displaying symptoms.

Fauci, nation's top infectious-diseases expert, told CNN that timeline for reopening country would be informed by a team that has been reviewing data day-by-day and presenting that information to president.

“ virus kind of decides wher or t it’s appropriate to open it," he said. “ one thing you don’t want to do is you don’t want to get out re prematurely and n wind up backtracking.”

Still, he cautioned that re will most certainly be cases when that day comes.

“When we decide, at a proper time, when we’re going to be relaxing some of restrictions, re’s doubt you’re going to see cases," he said. “ question is how you respond to m."

As a clearer picture of virus begins to emerge, data has begun to show that it is having

Of victims whose demographic data was publicly shared by officials — nearly 3,300 of nation’s 13,000 deaths thus far — about 42% were black, according to an Associated Press analysis. African Americans account for roughly 21% of total population in those places. Black adults suffer from higher rates of underlying health conditions like obesity, diabetes and asthma, which put m at higher risk for severe complications.

To that end, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Friday made a plea to mirity communities to follow social distancing guidelines — if t for mselves, n for ir family members.

“Do it for your abuela. Do it for your granddaddy. Do it for your Big Mama. Do it for your Pop Pop,” he said, adding that y should also avoid alcohol, tobacco and drugs.

“We need you to understand, especially in communities of color, we need you to step up and help stop spread so that we can protect those who are most vulnerable," he said.Asked wher his comments could be deemed offensive for viewers, Adams, who is black, said that was t his intention.“That’s langu that we use and that I use,” he said.

(Im Credit: AP)