U.S. economy "may be" heading toward recession due to lingering COVID-19

**"We're not thinking in terms of recession. We're thinking in terms of the virus." **

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that the United States could be coping with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) until July or August and the country's economy "may be" heading toward a recession.

"Well, it may be," Trump said in a press conference at the White House while responding to a question about whether the country's economy is heading toward a recession.

Photo taken on March 11, 2020 shows the White House in Washington D.C., the United States. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

However, Trump predicted growth would bounce back strongly.

"We're not thinking in terms of recession. We're thinking in terms of the virus," he said. "Once we stop, I think there's a tremendous pent-up demand both in terms of the stock market, in terms of the economy."

Trump also released guidelines that called for people to avoid gathering of 10 people or more across the nation for the next eight weeks and to steer clear of eating and drinking at bars, restaurants and food courts.

"We have an invisible enemy," he said. "This is a bad one. This is a very bad one."

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, the United States, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

The Dow Jones industrial average on Monday collapsed 2,999 points, or 12.9 percent, to close at 20,188.52. It is the Dow's second worst percentage loss in history behind the "Black Monday" crash in 1987.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States reached 4,068 with 69 deaths by 1:00 p.m. local time Monday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

(Article by Xinhua Reporter Yang Shilong; Video by Xinhua Reporter Hu Yousong) ■