KEY POINTS As of Sunday, the U.S. had 140,960 confirmed COVID-19 cases, an increase of 17,382 from Saturday, and 2,457 deaths, a rise of 237

Of this national total, New York State accounted for 59,513 cases and 965 deaths

Of the New York State total, New York City accounted for 33,768 cases and 678 deaths

President Donald Trump Sunday extended the federal social distancing guidelines to April 30 from April 15 to slow down the rapid spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, backtracking from widely criticized comments he wanted to open the U.S. for business by April 12, Easter Sunday.

"We will be extending our guidelines to April 30, to slow the spread," he said at the White House Rose Garden. "On Tuesday, we will be finalizing these plans and providing a summary of our findings, supporting data and strategy to the American people."

Trump said modeling shows the peak of the death rate will likely occur in two weeks.

"The modeling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks, so I will say it again, the peak, highest point of death rates, remember this, is likely to hit in two weeks. Nothing would be worse than declaring victory before the victory is won," Trump pointed out.

Trump said he hopes the country will be on its way to recovery by June 1.

"We can expect that by June 1, we will be well on our way to recovery, we think by June 1."

As of 22:21 GMT Sunday, the U.S. still leads the world in total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Massive testing nationwide has uncovered 140,960 cases, an increase of 17,382 from Saturday, and 2,457 deaths, a rise of 237, according to data website, Worldometer.

The world reported 720,187 confirmed cases Sunday (up 57,060) and 33,903 deaths (up 3,042) and 150,918 recoveries. On the other hand, 718,685 total confirmed global cases were reported by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. Of the world total, 139,675 came from the U.S., 97,689 from Italy and 82,122 from China.

In the U.S., the top five most infected states, according to Worldometer, are:

New York, 59,513 cases (33,768 in New York City); 965 deaths (678 in New York City)

New Jersey, 13,386; 161 deaths

California, 5,846; 124 deaths

Michigan, 5,486; 132 deaths

Massachusetts, 4,955; 48 deaths

These five states account for more than 60% of the entire U.S. COVID-19 case total as of Sunday. New York State and New York City, however, had a hellish weekend and remain the country's pandemic epicenters.

Photo: GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Cindy Ord

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