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The COVID-19 pandemic could kill between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans, the Trump administration said today. The president has extended social distancing policies to at least April 30, moving away from a previously stated desire to have the economy re-opened by the middle of the month. 

“I want every American to be prepared for the hard days that lie ahead. We’re going through a very tough few weeks,” President Trump said at his daily press briefing on Tuesday.  

The United States has the world's highest confirmed number of positive cases and has among the steepest rate of increase. The United States Studies Centre this week released a data visualisation project comparing the spread of infections, number of hospitalisations, and number of deaths due to COVID-19 in the United States and Australia. It shows that as it stands, Australia's 188 cases per million of population are eclipsed by the United States' 562 cases per million. There have been 21 deaths in Australia and 2,938 deaths in the United States.