White House Projects 100,000 to 200,000 US Deaths From COVID-19

Even if Americans follow mitigation guidelines, the United States could see 100,000 to 200,000 deaths as a result of the coronavirus, according to projections explained by health officials Tuesday evening at the White House.

“This is going to be a very, very painful two weeks,” President Donald Trump told reporters of the days to come.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had mentioned before the possibility of more than 100,000 deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

But the number now is the government’s formal projections.

Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House’s coronavirus task force, explained the numbers in a slide show, noting pronounced increases in the states of New York and New Jersey.

“It’s a projection based on using what’s in Italy and then looking at all the [computer] models,” Birx said, adding:

As you saw on that slide, that was our real number, 100,000 to 200,000 [deaths]. We really believe and hope every day we can do a lot better than that [by saving lives], because that’s not assuming 100% of every American does everything they are supposed to be doing. But I think that’s possible.

Trump announced Sunday that the administration was extending social distancing and related government guidelines to “slow the spread” until April 30.

The computer models suggest the number of deaths will peak over the next two weeks, then begin to slowly decline. But deaths will continue into June.

“I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead,” Trump said, adding:

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