'Have seen things that I've never seen before': Trump expresses shock over images from NY hospital

President Donald Trump expressed his concern and disbelief on Sunday over the toll that the coronavirus is taking on New York City.

Trump was clearly moved by the scenes from New York, particularly hard-hit Elmhurst Hospital in his native Queens.

"I've been watching that for the last week on television," he said.

"Body bags all over, in hallways. I've been watching them bring in trailer trucks — freezer trucks, they're freezer trucks, because they can't handle the bodies, there are so many of them. This is essentially in my community, in Queens, Queens, New York," he continued. "I've seen things that I've never seen before."

Queens accounts for 32% of the city's more than 30,000 confirmed cases as of Saturday — more than any other borough.

Bracing the nation for a death toll that could exceed 100,000 people, 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.

On Saturday, after saying he was weighing the idea of a mandatory quarantine for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, President Donald Trump tweeted that instead he'd issue advisory urging people in those states to avoid any nonessential travel for two weeks.

De Blasio said he worried about the advisory's impact on families with members in New York and other places who were looking to reunite.

Most people who contract COVID-19 have mild or moderate symptoms, which can include fever and cough but also milder cases of pneumonia, sometimes requiring hospitalization.

The risk of death is greater for older adults and people with other health problems.

Hospitals in the most afflicted areas are straining to handle patients and some are short of critical supplies.

(Picture credit: AP)