Trump strikes a positive note: 'We're having fewer hospital visits' for coronavirus patients

President Trump said Americans' measures to stop the spread were working, resulting in fewer hospital visits than projected.

"Numbers are coming in where, because of what the American people are doing, we're having fewer hospital visits," Trump said during Monday's White House coronavirus task force briefing. "I think that could be the case in New York, it could be the case in a few other states. And fewer beds, fewer hospital visits mean fewer ventilators.  So we'll see whether or not our original hospital projections were right."

Just the News reported that a Web site that tracks hospital beds in use suggests the model used by top White House health officials to project the trajectory of the coronavirus has so far overestimated the number of Americans hospitalized by the disease by tens of thousands. 

Trump said he'd spoken with the governors of New York and New Jersey, two hot spots for the coronavirus.

"I think they're very happy, extremely happy about what we're doing for them," Trump said. "The next week, week-and-a-half is going to be a big surge, the professionals tell us. And I think we're in good shape for it."

Trump said there have now been 1.79 million coronavirus tests conducted in the U.S.

He said the federal government had also built 22 hospital sites and 18 state alternative care sites and released 8,450 hospital beds from federal stockpile. He also said FEMA had distributed 11.7 million N-95 masks, 5.3 million face shields, 4.4 million surgical gowns and 22.6 million gloves.

"So it's good timing, really good timing," Trump said. "We can have the stuff there. It's already there, for the most part. But we're bringing a lot of different resources to the various locations, especially where the surge is looking like it's going to take place."

Trump said he spoke Monday by telephone with executives of pharmaceutical companies Regeneron, Gilead, Genetech and Amgen to discuss strategies for combatting coronavirus.

Trump said California has distributing 500 excess ventilators, possibly to Washington state, Arizona or elsewhere.

"At the present time, most of the critical needs are being more than met," he said. "States have to continue sharing detailed information."

Trump also said that he had a "very nice conversation," with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to discuss the coronavirus, what Tump called a "really wonderful, warm conversation."

Trump said the conversation "lasted probably 15 minutes, and it was really good. It was really good. Really nice, I think it was very much so. I appreciated his calling."