The story of Jim and Dee, the elderly couple whose deaths show how COVID fatalities can go uncounted

President Donald Trump delivers an update on "Operation Warp Speed" in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 13. Mandel Ngan/A

President Trump on Friday inched closer to acknowledging he will not be president after Jan. 20, though stopped well short of recognizing his loss, in vowing his administration wouldn't order new coronavirus lockdowns.

"I will not — this administration will not be doing a lockdown. Hopefully whatever happens in the future — who knows which administration it will be? I guess time will tell — but I can tell you this administration will not go to a lockdown," Trump said in the Rose Garden, his first public remarks in days.

Trump's willingness to suggest there might be a different administration next year is as far as he's gone in recognizing the election results, which he is currently contesting.

While he went no further in publicly saying he would soon be leaving office, Trump did offer an opening. 

"This administration will not go, under any circumstances, will not go through a lockdown, but we will be very vigilant. Very careful," he said.

Some background: The US has added more than half a million new Covid-19 cases^[1] since hitting 10 million on Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

At this rate, the number should pass 11 million in the next four days, making for the fastest addition of another million yet, John Hopkins data show.

November already was crippling for American communities battling Covid-19 spikes in cases,^[2] hospitalizations and deaths^[3]. Experts warn it will likely get worse before it gets better.

For the 10th day in a row,^[4] the US reported more than 100,000 infections, and the total since Monday hit 556,961. On Thursday, with its highest number yet at more than 153,000 new infections, the country inched closer to what one expert predicted could soon become a devastating reality — 200,000 cases a day^[5].

Watch the moment:

CNN's Jay Croft and Christina Maxouris contributed to this report.

References

1. ^{^} more than half a million new Covid-19 cases (www.cnn.com)
2. ^{^} Covid-19 spikes in cases, (www.cnn.com)
3. ^{^} hospitalizations and deaths (www.cnn.com)
4. ^{^}  10th day in a row, (www.cnn.com)
5. ^{^}  200,000 cases a day (www.cnn.com)

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