President Trump stepped back from his earlier hopes of relaxing social distancing guidelines by Easter to announce that the restrictions will now continue through the end of April. These restrictions include avoiding all nonessential travel, going out to eat, working at non-essential businesses, and even gathering in groups larger than ten. The announcement came on Sunday, March 29 at a briefing in the White House Rose Garden. 

The president has previously made it clear that he wanted the guidelines to relax by Easter, April 12. Further enlightenment from public health officials convinced Mr. Trump that going back into the regular swing of things too quickly could result in large scale deaths and rapid spreading of the virus. The United States has topped over 135,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19  — ranking above both Italy and Spain — and more than 2,400 deaths. Now, instead of hoping to be back to normal by Easter, Mr. Trump has said he expects the virus to peak by then. Mr. Trump believes that by June 1, the United States will be on its way to recovery.

Georgia Governor Kemp announced that Georgia public schools would be closed for the rest of this school year, meaning online instruction will continue in place of regular class. The University System of Georgia will also remain closed for the remainder of the semester. Governor Kemp has not made any further announcements about the closure of schools for this coming school year. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Carlos del Rio of Emory University has some hopeful news in terms of Georgia’s fight against COVID-19. He has reason to believe that the cases in Georgia should reach its highest point on or around April 23, though the aspiration is dependent on Georgia citizen’s compliance with the social distancing guidelines. 

Professionals have high hopes that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel in regard to this virus. In the meantime, let’s erase April and stay inside.