At one point Mr. Trump, who initially set Easter Sunday as a target date for re-opening the country before backing off, said that the holiday would be a particularly “sad” day for Americans prohibited from gathering in large numbers. He said he would again like to consider relaxing social distancing rules for Easter services and that he had told advisers, “maybe we could allow special for churches” gatherings that were possibly outside with “great separation.”

“It’s something we should talk about,” he added, but he did not announce any changes to existing federal recommendations. “But somebody did say that, well then you’re sort of opening it up to that little, you know, do we want to take a chance on doing that when we’ve been doing so well?”

More than 8,000 people have died so far in the United States, but the White House has said its projections show that at least 100,000 people could die because of the virus.

“The next two weeks are extraordinarily important,” said Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator. “This is the moment to not be going to the grocery store, not going to the pharmacy, but doing everything you can to keep your family and your friends safe and that means everybody doing the six-feet distancing, washing their hands.”

Dr. Birx also said that Detroit, New York and Louisiana — the current hot spots — will likely reach a peak in the next six to seven days, citing the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s predictions.