According to Business Insider, an analysis that the White House shared on Tuesday says that over 2 million Americans could die from COVID-19 if the disease is not mitigated.
Mitigation steps include people staying at home, washing their hands frequently, not touching their faces, reducing travel, and social distancing when in public.
Although President Trump aimed to reopen parts of the U.S. by Easter, medical experts used data to convince him to extend the nation's shutdown to April 30.
Death tolls are expected to fall if people stay home.
But, experts estimate that as many as 240,000 people in the U.S. could still die, even with business shutdowns and stay-at-home orders.
Dr. Deborah Birx, who leads the Trump administration's efforts against covid-19 explained that the predictions are "very much focused on the next two weeks and the stark reality of what this virus will do as it moves through communities." Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases added "This is a number that we need to anticipate, but we don't necessarily have to accept it as being inevitable...We can influence this to varying degrees."
