President Trump said Tuesday evening his administration is working on a plan for how the country can start returning to normal following widespread shutdowns to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
Flanked by members of the White House coronavirus task force, Trump offered more insight into his assertion earlier in the day that he hoped the economy could restart by Easter, saying that his decision “will be based on hard facts and data.”
“I want to reassure Americans that we have a team of public health experts … also economists and other professionals working to develop a sophisticated plan to reopen the economy as soon as the time is right,” Trump said in the White House briefing room. “One based on the best science, the best modeling, and the best medical research there is anywhere on Earth.”
Just hours before, during a Fox News town hall, when referencing the stringent measures put in place across the country to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Trump said the “cure is worse than the problem” and that, in his opinion, “more people are going to die if we allow this to continue.”
The president said he would “love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter,” which is 19 days away, appearing to clash with more cautious messaging by members of his own task force. For instance, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said just last week the public may need to stay at home for the next “several” weeks.
Fauci, who stood by Trump in the briefing room on Tuesday, said the administration needs to be “very flexible” about its Easter goal for reopening.
Over the past couple days, Trump has struck an alarming tone in talking about what could happen in a long-term shutdown. He told Fox News there will be “suicides by the thousands” if entire sectors of the economy remain shuttered.
Trump eased up on his push for an Easter reopening, saying, “Rest assured that every decision we make is ground solely in the health, safety, and well-being of our citizens.”
“This is a medical crisis. This isn’t a financial crisis,” he added.
Almost half of the country is under orders to stay at home, with a majority of the public expected to be under such strictures by the end of the week. The United States had its 50,000th case of the coronavirus on Tuesday and also experienced the first death of someone under 18 years old.
As of late Tuesday afternoon, more than 53,000 people in the U.S. have tested positive for the virus, and 696 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
