Pence: 'In Early June, We Could Well Have the Coronavirus Largely Behind Us'

Vice President Mike Pence (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

(CNSNews.com) - President Donald Trump recently extended the government's social distancing guidelines until April 30, which would make for a total of six weeks "to stop the spread."

But on Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence, the head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, was talking about "early June" before the country gets back to business as (more or less) usual.

"But I hope people look at what happens if all of us continue to do our part, and that is by some time in early June, we could well have the coronavirus largely behind us as a nation, reopen our country, put America back to work," Pence told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

Blitzer followed up: "And with 100,000 people presumably be dead by then, in early June, here in the United States? Is that what you're saying?"

Pence explained:

"The time frame for the epidemic is a period of time where the number of losses becomes much lower by about Memorial Day Weekend and June 1st. But I never want to minimize the loss. I just want to make sure people know there is light at the end of the tunnel.

"We can save lives between now and the summertime by putting these guidelines into practice, Wolf -- and we can put this behind us sooner."