MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump said social distancing guidelines will be extended until 30 April

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US leading infectious disease expert and one of the most prominent members of the president's Coronavirus Task Force, called the expanded guidelines “prudent.”

President Trump announced on Sunday the nationwide social distancing guidelines will remain in place until April 30, saying the “peak” of the coronavirus pandemic is expected in two weeks. Mr. Trump said he expected the country to be “well on its way to recovery” by June 1.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert and one of the most prominent members of the president's Coronavirus Task Force, called the expanded guidelines “prudent.”

The number of cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. continued to rise on Sunday, with over 137,200 total confirmed cases nationwide and more than 2,400 deaths since the outbreak began. New York remains the epicenter of the U.S. crisis, as Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Sunday a 68-bed makeshift hospital tent is being built outside Mount Sinai Hospital in Central Park.

In Louisiana, Governor John Bel Edwards said the state had the second-highest number of per cap-ita deaths. He said that within the last 24 hours, there have been 225 new coronavirus cases in the state and 2,710 tests run. The total number of cases in the state is 35,040, with 14 new deaths.

Texas had already set up a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all travelers flying in from New Orle-ans, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. On Sunday, Texas Governor Greg Abbot an-nounced he was mandating a 14-day self-quarantine for anyone driving into Texas from anywhere in Louisiana and for those flying in from Miami, Atlanta, Detroit and Chicago, as well as anywhere in California and Washington.

Abbott's mandatory quarantine came one day after similar measures were announced in Florida. That state's governor, Ron DeSantis, announced on Sunday checkpoints would be set up along in-terstates that travelers from New York and Louisiana usually use. Any visitors from those states would have to go into a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Stock markets dropped Sunday night as reassurances from President Trump and promises that stimulus checks were on the way failed to sooth investors worried about the continued spread of the novel coronavirus.

The stock drop comes after the market rose last week for three days in a row amid hopes the US$ 2 trillion stimulus package, which Trump signed on Friday, would boost spending and carry the economy through the current forced shutdown. But falling markets on Sunday night suggested that investors will wake up Monday morning to another rocky week in the market.

Futures markets were indicating that the Dow Jones Industrial Average would drop more than 300 points when stocks begin trading.

Asian markets opened sharply lower Monday as well, with the indices down nearly 4% in Japan, and about 1.5% in Chinese markets. Stocks in Australia were the only bright spot, rising about 2% in morning trading.