U.S President Donald Trump has extended social distancing and other coronavirus-fighting guidelines through April 30, saying what has been done so far is saving lives, Voice of America reported. 

“The better you do, the faster this whole nightmare will end,” Trump said Sunday at the daily coronavirus briefing at the White House.

“I want our life back again,” he said.

The initial two-week period of government-recommended mitigation was set to expire Monday.

Trump predicted that the U.S. death rate will peak in two weeks and said the country will be “well on our way to recovery” by June 1.

Trump had said he wanted the country back in business by Easter, April 12, saying he didn’t want the cure of an economic shutdown to be worse than the disease. 

The U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said the decision to extend federal social distancing guidelines was “wise and prudent.” He said what has been done to date has had an effect, although he stands by his previous forecast of more than 100,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States.  “What we're trying to do is not let that happen,” he said.  “So instead of concentrating on the upper and the lower, we're saying that we're trying to push it all the way down.”