Trump says he’ll reopen the economy “based on a lot of facts and a lot of instincts”
Trump says “instincts” will shape his decision on reopening the economy. His health advisers say data is key.
President Donald Trump and two of his top public health advisers have taken different stances on the issue of when — and how — the decision to ease social distancing will be made.
Trump has advocated for aggressive goals in recent days, and said Saturday on Fox News that he plans to base his decision on when to adjust federal social distancing guidelines and ask businesses to reopen “on a lot of facts and a lot of instincts.”
But two of his health advisers, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, argued for a decision based only on the former Sunday. In separate appearances on CNN’s State of the Union and ABC’s Meet the Press, both officials emphasized that their recommendations would be based solely on constantly-changing data, hesitated to make firm or sweeping predictions, and challenged the notion that there is a single, set time when the entire country will be “ready” to resume life as it once was.
“It is not going to be a light switch that we say, ‘Okay it’s now June, July whatever’ — click, the light switch goes back on,” Fauci said on CNN. “It’s going to be depending where you are in the country, the nature of the outbreak that you already experienced, and the threat of an outbreak that you may not have experienced.”
Trump has made it clear that he would like to see relaxed social distancing and businesses reopened soon as possible. Less than three weeks ago, he said he hoped to have the economy “opened up and raring to go by Easter,” a goal that both health officials and economists warned would backfire, because it would accelerate the spread of coronavirus and likely lead to the rapid reshuttering of the economy.
Trump’s health officials have been far more cautious and hesitant to offer gut-level appraisals about the future of the economy or when it will be safe to end social distancing.
“It is a target, and obviously we’re hopeful about that target, but I think it’s just too early to be able to tell that we see light at the end of the tunnel,” officials said. “I think it’s just too early for us to say whether May 1 is that date.”
“We are hoping that at the end of the month we can look around and say, ‘Okay, is there any element here that we can safely and cautiously start pulling back on?’ If so, do it, if not, then just continue to hunker down,” reports say.
Whether the president takes these words to heart remains to be seen. But he has signaled recently he intends to create a concrete plan to see the economy functioning as normal again. Friday, he said he’ll announce the members of a new “‘opening our country task force’ or ‘opening our country council’” full of “great business leaders, great doctors” and “some governors” this week.
President Donald Trump and two of his top public health advisers have taken different stances on the issue of when — and how — the decision to ease social distancing will be made.
Trump has advocated for aggressive goals in recent days, and said Saturday on Fox News that he plans to base his decision on when to adjust federal social distancing guidelines and ask businesses to reopen “on a lot of facts and a lot of instincts.”
But two of his health advisers, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, argued for a decision based only on the former Sunday. In separate appearances on CNN’s State of the Union and ABC’s Meet the Press, both officials emphasized that their recommendations would be based solely on constantly-changing data, hesitated to make firm or sweeping predictions, and challenged the notion that there is a single, set time when the entire country will be “ready” to resume life as it once was.
“It is not going to be a light switch that we say, ‘Okay it’s now June, July whatever’ — click, the light switch goes back on,” Fauci said on CNN. “It’s going to be depending where you are in the country, the nature of the outbreak that you already experienced, and the threat of an outbreak that you may not have experienced.”
Trump has made it clear that he would like to see relaxed social distancing and businesses reopened soon as possible. Less than three weeks ago, he said he hoped to have the economy “opened up and raring to go by Easter,” a goal that both health officials and economists warned would backfire, because it would accelerate the spread of coronavirus and likely lead to the rapid reshuttering of the economy.
Trump’s health officials have been far more cautious and hesitant to offer gut-level appraisals about the future of the economy or when it will be safe to end social distancing.
“It is a target, and obviously we’re hopeful about that target, but I think it’s just too early to be able to tell that we see light at the end of the tunnel,” officials said. “I think it’s just too early for us to say whether May 1 is that date.”
“We are hoping that at the end of the month we can look around and say, ‘Okay, is there any element here that we can safely and cautiously start pulling back on?’ If so, do it, if not, then just continue to hunker down,” reports say.
Whether the president takes these words to heart remains to be seen. But he has signaled recently he intends to create a concrete plan to see the economy functioning as normal again. Friday, he said he’ll announce the members of a new “‘opening our country task force’ or ‘opening our country council’” full of “great business leaders, great doctors” and “some governors” this week.
Comments
Post a Comment