Immune To COVID? New Study Suggests Why

President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he is adding a month to his voluntary national social distancing guidelines as deaths and illnesses from the coronavirus pandemic rise in the United States.

The government's initial "15 Days to Slow the Spread" social distancing period was set to expire Monday, but Trump instead decided to extend the guidelines through April 30.

At a briefing in the White House Rose Garden, the president said that modeling estimates now indicate "the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks."

Weather in your inbox

Forecast Location

Sign Up

By signing up you agree to the Terms & Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe at any time.

The federal guidelines urge anyone feeling sick, as well as older people and people with existing health problems, to stay home. Everyone is urged to avoid gathering in large groups, to work from home when possible and to avoid restaurants, bars, non-essential travel and shopping trips.

Trump's decision to extend the guidelines came after Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, said the U.S. could have more than 100,000 deaths and millions of infections from the pandemic.

"I want the American people to know that your selfless, inspiring and valiant efforts are saving countless lives – you're making the difference," the president said.

The United States hit yet another grim milestone in the fight against the coronavirus as the death toll on Sunday surpassed 2,400.

There have been at least 678 deaths in New York City, which has become the epicenter of the health crisis. Overall, there are at least 137,294 cases in the U.S., according to data tracked by Johns Hopkins University.

Globally, there were more than 716,100 cases as of Sunday evening. More than 33,850 people have died worldwide.

Latest Developments

United States

-Three more national parks – Glacier in Montana and Arches and Canyonlands in Utah – are closing. Several other popular parks, including Yellowstone, Grand Teton and the Great Smoky Mountains, had already announced closures.

-A top health official in Detroit says that city could be hit harder than New York, according to the Associated Press. "At this time, the trajectory of Detroit is unfortunately even more steep than that of New York," Dr. Teena Chopra, the Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Hospital Epidemiology at the Detroit Medical Center, said. "This is off the charts." Chopra said Detroit has a high population of at-risk residents with underlying health conditions.

-A horse racing track in New York is being converted into a hospital.

-Governor Andrew Cuomo pushed New York state's presidential primary from April to June.

-Rhode Island and Kansas became the latest state to announce "stay at home" orders for their residents. At least 22 states are now under such orders, although restrictions and closures vary widely.

-President Trump on Friday night signed an executive order that allows the Department of Defense to recall former service members back to active duty to assist in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the Washington Post reported. “As this is a dynamic situation, we do not currently have a projected number of expected activations, but the Department is now fully authorized to make activations as needed,” Chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Rath Hoffman said in a statement. Earlier in the week, the U.S. Army had emailed retired soldiers and asked if they would be interested in returning to active duty, especially those in the medical field.

-West Virginia officials said an announcement on Friday that the state had its first COVID-19 death was not correct. The announcement was based on information from a nursing home in Morgantown, where several patients have the disease. "Last night, Sundale Long Term Care reported that a resident from our facility died," Sundale CEO Michael Hicks said in a statement. "We have since learned that this individual did not pass away, as we originally believed." Hicks said the patient is in critical condition at a local hospital.

-Deaths have occurred in 47 states and the District of Columbia. Besides West Virginia, the other states with no reported deaths as of Saturday afternoon were Wyoming and Hawaii.

-Rhode Island announced its first two deaths on Saturday.

-The convention center in New Orleans is being converted into a hospital to help ease the burden on local health facilities. The city is one of the nation's outbreak hotspots, possibly fueled by the large Mardi Gras celebrations in late February. Similar facilities in other large cities, including New York's Javits Center and Chicago's McCormick Place, are also being converted to hospitals. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has assessed 114 sites in all 50 states and five territories, Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite said in a Friday news briefing. "We've already got contracts, and we're cutting contracts every night to be able to get contractors to be able to come into the facilities," Semonite told reporters.

-The Walt Disney Company announced Friday that Disney World and Disneyland would remain closed indefinitely. The parks were eyeing the end of the month to reopen after a two-week closure. "As a result of this unprecedented pandemic and in line with direction provided by health experts and government officials, Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort will remain closed until further notice," the company said in a statement. Hourly employees will continue to be paid through April 18.

Worldwide

-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday that anyone showing symptoms of COVID-19 will be barred from boarding domestic flights or intercity trains.

-Spain recorded its deadliest day since the start of the outbreak, with more than 800 deaths and 8,000 new cases, the AP reported. The country's travel restrictions were tightened to eliminate all non-essential trips, including going to work.

-Eighty-six United Nations staff members around the world have been diagnosed with COVID-19. A U.N. spokesman said most of them are in Europe, but there are also cases among staff in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the U.S.

-German officials say they won't ease closures and restrictions there until at least April 20. All non-essential shops, businesses and schools are closed and public gatherings of more than two people are prohibited. Germany has more than 58,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and at least 455 people there have died.

-As of Sunday morning, the countries with the most overall reported cases behind the U.S. were Italy, China, Spain and Germany, in that order.

-South Korea passed a positive milestone, with more coronavirus patients now having been discharged than those currently undergoing treatment, the Post reported. More than 4,811 South Koreans had recovered from the virus as of Saturday, while 4,500 are still undergoing treatment.

For the latest coronavirus information in your county and a full list of important resources to help you make the smartest decisions regarding the disease, check out our dedicated COVID-19 page.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.