President Donald Trump said Monday, at a briefing on the coronavirus, that life under a coronavirus pandemic could last until the summer.
NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci later stepped in to clarify that the trajectory of the outbreak might last until August — not that the new regulations are in effect until then.
Fox News reporter John Roberts asked Trump out of the gate who long “all of this might last” — moments after the president advised that Americans should avoid congregating in groups of more than ten as the coronavirus spreads through the United States.
In a reply that might concern those fond of the summer months, Trump said, “It seems to me that if we do a really good job, we’ll not only hold the death down to a level that is much lower than the other way, had we not done a good job, but people are talking about July, August, something like that.”
“So is this the new normal, until the height of the summer?” Roberts asked.
“We’ll see what happens. But they think August, could be July,” Trump said. “Could be longer than that.”
Trump added: “I’ve spoken actually with my son, he said, ‘How bad is this?’ It’s bad. It’s bad.”
Later, Fauci stepped in to issue a clarification on Trump’s comments.
“The guidelines are a 15-
“What the president was saying is the trajectory of the outbreak might go until then,” he said. “Make sure we don’t think that these are solid in stone until July.”
“That would be the outside number,” Trump added, referring to the mid-summer estimate.
Watch above, via CNN.