President Trump laid out a three-phase process for governors to lead their states out of economic lockdown, even as his scientific advisers described a “new normal” in which the public would have to remain constantly vigilant for outbreaks of the novel coronavirus.
The guidance leaves decisions in the hands of governors but lays out a series of checkpoints, starting with a decrease in confirmed COVID-19 cases over a 14-day period, before restrictions are lifted.
“We’re starting our life again,” said Trump during his Thursday evening coronavirus press briefing. “We’re starting to rejuvenate our economy again in a safe and structured and very responsible fashion.”
The president has made clear at times his impatience with public health officials who have cautioned against moving too fast. At the same time, there was fresh evidence of the economic cost of closing nonessential businesses, with new jobs figures showing that an additional 20 million people filed for unemployment benefits in the past month.
Trump said the guidelines put the health and safety of the population first but also recognized that many states had escaped the worst of the outbreak.
“A prolonged lockdown combined with a forced economic depression would inflict an immense and wide-ranging toll on public health,” he said, describing how it could lead to a sharp rise in drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, and heart disease.
The plan says hospitals must have a “robust testing program” that includes antibody testing for healthcare workers before states can consider reopening.
The first phase requires that vulnerable people continue to shelter in place, groups of more than 10 people be avoided unless distancing is possible, and nonessential travel be minimized. Schools and bars would remain closed, but movie theaters, gyms, restaurants, and ballparks can reopen if physical distancing is possible.
If there is no rebound, states can proceed to the next phase. Schools and youth camps can reopen along with bars that take measures to reduce the number of standing patrons. Groups of more than 50 will be permitted if social distancing can be maintained.
Nonessential travel will be permitted, but communal areas in workplaces should remain closed.
In phase three, vulnerable people can resume public interactions but should practice social distancing.
However, the public should not let up its guard, according to Trump’s key scientific advisers Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, who both spoke of a “new normal.”
Dr. Fauci said getting to phase three did not represent the end of the problem.
“You can call it the new normal, you can call it whatever you want, but even if you are in phase one, two, three, it is not OK, game over,” he said. “It’s not.”
Dr. Birx said it was vital to continue the hygiene measures that had proven so effective: regular hand-washing, respecting other people’s personal space, and staying home from work when feeling unwell.
Analysis of the crisis so far, she said, had identified surges in people with respiratory disease as the first sign of coronavirus outbreaks. Looking out for such surges would provide an early warning system for fresh spikes in cases.
That would be complemented by testing of vulnerable populations in nursing homes and inner city clinics, she said, “to be able to find early alerts of asymptomatic individuals in the community.”
The plans offer a framework for Republican governors of states in the South and West that have not been badly affected to begin opening their economies, while harder-hit places such as New York will have to wait longer for cases to decline.
Trump said he believed 29 states were ready or close to moving into phase one but offered no direction on how quickly he expected states to proceed.
The plan avoids a confrontation that loomed earlier in the week when he claimed total authority to impose his will on governors.
Instead, Vice President Mike Pence made clear that it was up to the states themselves to decide how best to proceed.
“It is our intention, at the president’s direction, to provide these guidelines to assist governors and state health officials in evaluating the most responsible manner to reopen the economies of their states at a time and manner of their choosing,” he said.
