President Donald Trump said Monday he would soon decide whether to reopen the United States to commerce as health experts voiced optimism that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic in the country may soon be over.In the U.S., 42 of the 50 state governors have imposed stay-at-home edicts as the virus swept through the country. Trump recommended physical distancing between Americans through the end of April but is considering whether to reopen the country fully or partly on May 1.While news stories in the U.S. have suggested it would be up to the governors to decide when to lift their own orders for their states, Trump said on Twitter, “Let it be fully understood that this is incorrect.”For the purpose of creating conflict and confusion, some in the Fake News Media are saying that it is the Governors decision to open up the states, not that of the President of the United States & the Federal Government. Let it be fully understood that this is incorrect….— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) But Redfield, like other government health officials, voiced concerns about reopening the country to commerce and a sense of normalcy on May 1, the date Trump is considering.Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the country’s director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday there is “extraordinary risk” of the further spread of the coronavirus if life in the U.S. returns to normalcy too soon.Redfield said, “I think it’s important to look at the country as many different separate situations. We’re looking at the data county by county by county.”“Clearly the things that need to happen for the reopening is what’s happening with the numbers of new cases,” he said. “We’ve got to substantially augment our public health capacity to do early case identification, isolation and contact tracing. And obviously make sure we have the medical and hospital capacity. And really start working to build confidence” in communities across the country, so they have “confidence to reopen.”“There’s no doubt that we have to reopen correctly,” to avoid a resurgence in the coronavirus in July and August, Redfield said. “It’s going to be a step by step, gradual process. It’s got to be data driven.”Their assessment came as the U.S. death toll continues to increase, topping 22,000, with 558,000 confirmed cases.Redfield said that the mortality rate, “while sadly still too high, was far less than we anticipated” because of social distancing.Trump in January, February and half of March minimized the severity of the coronavirus threat after the first outbreak in China before declaring a national emergency in mid-March. On several occasions, he said there were few cases in the U.S. and that the disease would quickly dwindle to nothing.  Some Trump advisers warned him of the advancing threat, but Sunday on Twitter, Trump appeared peeved at Fauci’s assessment in a CNN interview Sunday that “obviously” the country’s response could have been better.“It would have been better if we had a head start,” Fauci said. “Often the recommendation (of scientists and medical experts) is taken, sometimes it is not.”He said the country’s high death toll “may have been a little bit different” if the U.S. had moved quicker toward social distancing and stay-at-home edicts.Trump retweeted a supporter’s assessment that Fauci should be fired, although Fauci has continued to appear alongside the president at White House coronavirus news conferences.
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