With lives and the economy hanging in the balance, President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is hoping the country will be reopened by Easter as he weighs how to refine nationwide social-distancing guidelines to put some workers back on the job amid the coronavirus outbreak.
As many public health officials call for stricter, not looser restrictions on public interactions, Trump said he was already looking toward easing the advisories that have sidelined workers, shuttered schools and led to a widespread economic slowdown.
"I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter," he said during a Fox News virtual town hall. Easter is just over two weeks away — Apr. 12.
Health experts have made clear that unless Americans continue to dramatically limit social interaction — staying home from work and isolating themselves — the number of infections will overwhelm the health care system, as it has in parts of Italy, leading to many more deaths. While the worst outbreaks are concentrated in certain parts of the country, such as New York, experts warn that the highly infectious disease is certain to spread.
The U.S. is now more than a week into an unprecedented 15-day effort to encourage all Americans to drastically scale back their public activities. The guidelines, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are voluntary, but many state and local leaders have issued mandatory restrictions in line with, or even tighter than, those issued by the CDC.
On Monday, the U.S. saw its biggest jump yet in the death toll from the virus, with 609 America deaths attributed to COVID-19 since the outbreak began. Trump's comments come after dire warnings by officials in hard-hit areas, including New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned Tuesday that his state's hospital capacity will soon hit a breaking point, even with the restrictions already in place.
"I gave it two weeks," Trump said during the virtual town hall from the Rose Garden. He argued that tens of thousands of Americans die from the seasonal flu or in automobile accidents and "we don't turn the country off."
"We'll assess at that time and we'll give it some more time if we need a little more time, but we need to open this country up," he added. "We have to go back to work, much sooner than people thought."
Trump's Easter target was not immediately embraced by Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator for Trump's task force, who indicated any move would have to be guided by data still being collected. She suggested that public health professionals could recommend a general easing, while pushing for local restrictions to remain in the hardest-hit areas.
Trump acknowledged that some want the guidance to continue, but claimed without providing evidence that it would lead to "deaths" from suicides and depression.
"I'm sure that we have doctors that would say 'let's keep it closed for two years,'" Trump said. "No, we got to get it open."
He added: "This cure is worse than the problem."
Trump also criticized Cuomo, who has grown critical of the slow pace of federal aid to his state, particularly to fill its urgent need for ventilators.
The reassessment comes as the White House is encouraging lawmakers on Capitol Hill to pass a roughly $2 trillion stimulus package to ease the financial pain for Americans and hard-hit industries.
Appearing before the president at the virtual town hall, Vice President Mike Pence said Trump has asked for recommendations from the White House coronavirus task force for how he can send people back to work while minimizing the public health risk. He said Trump wants to find a way "to open America back up."
Trump's enthusiasm for getting people back to work comes as he takes stock of the political toll the outbreak is taking. It sets up a potential conflict with medical professionals, including many within his government, who have called for more social restrictions to slow the spread of the virus, not fewer.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading expert on infectious diseases and a member of the White House's coronavirus task force, did not appear at the virtual town hall, but Trump denied there were any tensions between the two men.
Lawmakers have suggested that they'll look to Fauci for guidance on when the restrictions should be lifted.
"I'm going to take my lead from Anthony Fauci." Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., on CNN. "That's the person I trust, that's the person Americans trust.
Fauci told WMAL on Tuesday that Trump has always heeded his recommendations.
"The president has listened to what I have said and to what the other people on the task force have said, when I have made recommendations he has taken them. He's never countered or overridden me, the idea of just pitting one against the other is just not helpful," Fauci said.
Larry Kudlow, Trump's top economic adviser, told reporters Tuesday that "public health includes economic health."
"That's the key point. And it's not either-or. It's not either-or, and that's why we're taking a fresh look at it," he said.
During a private conference call with roughly 30 conservative leaders on Tuesday, Pence reinforced Trump's eagerness to lift coronavirus-related work and travel restrictions "in a matter of weeks, not months."
Pence said there would be no formal decisions made until the current 15-day period of social distancing was complete when pressed on a specific timeline for lifting restrictions, according to a conference call participant who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of the private discussion.
Pence told the group that accommodations would need to be made for the highest-risk populations if and when restrictions begin to be lifted.
Despite Trump's rosy talk, other elements of the government were digging in for the long haul. Top defense and military leaders on Tuesday warned department personnel that the virus problems could extend for eight to ten weeks, or even into the summer.
Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a Defense Department town hall meeting that it could go into late May or June, and possibly even July. He said there are a variety of models from other countries, so the exact length of the virus and its restrictions are not yet clear.
