Trump announces gradual US reopening to end coronavirus shutdown

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump announced the gradual reopening of the US economy battered by an unprecedented effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

“Based on the latest data, our team of experts now agrees that we can begin the next front in our war,” Trump told a news conference. “We’re opening up our country.”

His announcement came hours after new data showed job losses from the pandemic fallout in the world’s number one economy had reached 22 million in the past month.

New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams warned it will probably take a year or two, if not longer, for the US economy to recover its strength, as other figures showed dire damage to the home building market and manufacturing.

Trump had been campaigning for reelection in November largely on record low unemployment and a surge in US output. The battle to stop the coronavirus and lift social distancing and the paralysis of entire industries is also a race against the political clock.

However, the recommendations issued from the White House, in conjunction with medical advisors, were a far cry from Trump’s previous hopes for a sudden, widespread end to social distancing measures.

Trump described a cautious approach in which state governors, not the White House, will take the lead showing a retreat for Trump who had insisted he could dictate the pace of reopening.

“Our approach will outline three phases in restoring our economic life,” he said. “We are not opening all at once, but one careful step at a time, and some states, they will be able to open up sooner than others.”

Trump said some states are already free from the impact of the coronavirus and therefore can open “literally tomorrow.”  In a White House paper, presented to governors, Trump laid out the plan for getting people gradually back into public venues but offered no timetable.

Depending on locations and levels of the virus there, people will be able eventually to attend public gatherings and conduct non-essential travel. However, even in the third phase, the White House recommends continued, longterm extra hygiene measures and will focus on stamping out any resurgence.

The caution represents a shift of direction for Trump, who from the start of the crisis has shown frustration with the extraordinary disruption and medical staff’s advice to take extreme measures.

The death toll remains high as nearly 5,000 people died from the virus in the United States alone in the 24 hours on Thursday. Another 5.2 million workers filed for unemployment benefits last week.