Trump warns of ‘rough two weeks’ ahead amid coronavirus talks

President Trump warned the American public Sunday of a “rough two weeks” ahead as the coronavirus task force continues discussing the best path forward. 

The president tweeted in the afternoon that he is scheduled to have a White House coronavirus task force meeting “in a short while.”

“May or may not do a News Conference after the meeting, depending on new information,” he posted. “Talks & meetings today are proving promising, but a rough two weeks are coming up!”

I will be having a White House CoronaVirus Task Force meeting in a short while. May or may not do a News Conference after the meeting, depending on new information. Talks & meetings today are proving promising, but a rough two weeks are coming up!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 5, 2020

The tweet comes after the president issued a somber warning to the American public at a Saturday press briefing to prepare for “a lot of death” in the coming week.

“This will be probably the toughest week,” Trump told reporters.

“There will be a lot of death, unfortunately, but a lot less death than if this wasn’t done,” he added, pointing to the administration’s efforts to combat the virus.

Public health officials and governors who appeared on the Sunday morning shows also gave a grim prediction for the coming week.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams told “Fox News Sunday” that the upcoming week would be “the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans’ lives.”

“This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment, only it’s not going to be localized; it’s going to be happening all over the country,” Adams said.

He added, “There is hope, but we’ve also got to all do our part,” calling on the eight governors who haven’t issued stay-at-home orders to do so for at least a week.

Last week, health officials said that an estimated 100,000 to 240,000 Americans could die in the pandemic even if stringent social distancing guidelines are followed. 

Currently, the U.S. has counted more than 325,100 cases of the coronavirus and at least 9,267 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.