Clear signs our aggressive strategy on COVID-19 saving countless lives: Trump

Washngton: President Donald Trump on Friday says there are "clear signs" that the aggressive strategy adopted by his administration to contain coronavirus is saving countless lives.

The US on Friday reported nearly 18,000 fatalities and the total number of infections reach 500,000 mark. New York, the epicentre of COVID-19 in the US, has registered more than 7,000 deaths and over 170,000 cases.

"Our experts are monitoring the data from every part of our country...In the midst of grief and pain, we are seeing clear signs that our aggressive strategy is saving countless lives, tremendous progress is being made," Trump told reporters during his daily White House news conference.

Before the start of this week, members of the White House Task Force on Coronavirus had projected between one and two lakh deaths due to the viral infection.

The projection has now come down to 60,000. While the number of deaths across America and in New York continues to be high, hospitals are receiving less number of patients -- at least in New York and its adjoining areas.

"When you look at those numbers the numbers of death, people that have died it is so horrible. Now on the other side, you have the numbers of beds being used substantially reduced...that is usually the sign that it is heading in the downward curve," Trump said.

The president said he is seeing the downward curve "very strongly" in New York and "a lot of that has to do with the aggressive strategy in saving so many lives".

"We are saving so many lives compared to what it could have been so nobody knows what the number is but we had a number of 100,000 lives as many as that is it is impossible to even think of it, and that was the low end," he said.

Similarly, in Detroit and New Orleans situations appears to be stabilising, Trump said.

Louisiana and Michigan is doing really much better than initially thought. Enough progress has been made in Washington so that the governor is now able to return an Army field hospital, he noted.

"We were going to take that hospital; we don't think we need any more hospitals. We built thousands of beds all over the country, and we think we are probably not going to need that hospital anyway; if we do, we are ready to move it to a different location," Trump said.

"In New York, we are seeing hospital admissions declining very substantially as I said and nationwide, the number of new cases per day is flattening substantially, suggesting that we are near the peak and our comprehensive strategy is working.

"Over time our guidelines to slow the spread are decreasing the rate of new cases very substantially and will result in fewer hospital admissions, and we are seeing that," he said.

Trump, however, refrained from giving any definite date to open up the economy.

Responding to a question, he said he will listen to his medical experts before committing to try to start up the country in May.

"I listen to them about everything," Trump said, adding that he has "great respect for them" and he will "certainly listen" to their advice.

Noting this is the end of the week he warned about surge in death toll, Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a lead member of the White House Task Force on Coronavirus, said "this is not the time to pull back" on observing prevention guidelines.

US has extended the social mitigation measures till April 30.

Deborah Brix, a member of the White House Task Force on Coronavirus, said for the first time they are starting to level on the logarithmic phase like Italy did about a week ago.

"And so this gives us great heart that not only in specific places, but we are starting to see that," she said.

According to the president, some two million coronavirus tests have been conducted so far in the US, and now it at a rate of 100,000 a day.

Trump said he expects number of tests per day to shoot up substantially "very quickly".

The president said he is also working on approval for antibody test devices "at breakneck speed".

"We are also working to bring blood based serology tests to the market as quickly as possible so that Americans can determine whether or not they have already had the virus and potentially have immunity. They have immunity if they've had the virus. A lot of them don't even know if they've had it. Sometimes it's brutal," Trump said.