Trump asks Americans to enjoy stay at home

Racing against time to stop the spread of the coronavirus that has claimed the lives of 89 Americans so far, US President Donald Trump urged his countrymen to stay inside their homes and enjoy their living rooms.

"I would just say enjoy your home. Stay. I would just say right now we have to get this problem fixed and then we will get back into business really quick," Trump said in a message to the people of the US at a White House news conference here on Tuesday.

"We will open up our country, we will open up our society. The world will hopefully open up. We see areas of the world that haven't done well and we see areas that are doing very well and I would put us in the category of doing very well for a country so big. I think that I would recommend that they just enjoy their living room," the President added.

A day earlier, the White House had issued a guideline, urging people to stay inside their homes as much as possible for the next fortnight.

"We have to get rid of this, we have to win this war and ideally quickly because the longer it takes it's not a good situation and I'm not even talking about the economy, I am talking about the lives of a lot of people," Trump said.

Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Health, said the youth are less vulnerable to the coronavirus and have a big role to play. They need to stay away from social gatherings, restaurants and public places, he added.

"We can't do this without the young people cooperating. Please cooperate with us," Fauci said in a passionate plea to the youth of the country.

Vice President Mike Pence said it was important for the American people to understand that testing was happening all over the country.

"But all of our health experts wanted me to tell the American people you don't need the results of testing to know what you should do. President Trump's 15-day coronavirus guidelines are advice for every American in every community," he said,

"They're the result of the best guidance of the CDC and our health experts and, as the President said, we continue to urge every American over the next 15 days to put into practice the principles in the president's coronavirus guidelines," Pence added.

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"If you feel sick, stay home. If someone in your house tests positive, keep the entire household home. Especially if you're a person with an underlying health condition, we urge you to stay home and practice social distancing from people," he said.

The vice president insisted on no social gatherings of more than 10 people and use of drive-through.