President Donald Trump on Wednesday at the White House reacted to the revised coronavirus data model showing fewer deaths from the virus.
The president was asked about the revised numbers of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) model by Newsmax TV reporter Emerald Robinson at the White House press briefing, who noted that the model was significantly revised since predicting 100,000 to 240,000 deaths, even with current mitigation strategies.
“Sixty-one thousand … that’s still a big number,” Trump replied.
Robinson asked if Trump was ready to offer an updated date for when Americans could leave their homes and go back to work.
Trump recalled that he initially set an “aspirational date” of reopening the country by Easter, but it soon became clear that it would not happen.
“I said it would be very tough, and I was criticized for that, so I don’t like giving dates,” Trump said.
But the president noted that the peak of the virus might be in a downward trend by Easter, making it an important date in the virus timeline, regardless.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said.