Trump tempers grave assessments with optimism

President Donald Trump on Sunday suggested difficult weeks ahead could also mean beginning to turn a corner in the fight against the new coronavirus, as he tried to strike a more optimistic tone after senior US officials issued more grim assessments earlier in the day.

“We’re starting to see light at the end of the tunnel,” Trump said at an evening White House briefing, insisting both assessments from his administration - which came within 12 hours of each other - didn't represent an about-face or were even “that different".

“I think we all know that we have to reach a certain point - and that point is going to be a horrific point in terms of death - but it's also a point at which things are going to start changing,” Trump said. “We're getting very close to that level right now.”

The president added that he thought the next two weeks “are going to be very difficult.

At the same time, we understand what they represent and what that time represents and, hopefully, we can get this over with.”

Earlier in the day, the US surgeon general said Americans should brace for levels of tragedy reminiscent of the September 11 attacks and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, while the nation’s infectious disease chief warned the new coronavirus may never be completely eradicated from the globe.