US President, Donald
Trump, has unveiled plans by his government to re-open the US economy so people
can get back to school, church and visit their favorite bars amid claims that
the Coronavirus outbreak has peaked in the US .
Addressing reporters
in the White House Thursday night, President Trump revealed his three-phase
plan tagged 'Opening Up American Again''
Trump while
revealing the plan, said the final decision was in the hands of state governors
saying each state would be allowed to move through the reopening phases
whenever its governor deemed it was safe to do so.
Trump said: ‘We are
not opening all at once, but one careful step at a time. Some states will be
able to open up sooner than others. Some states are not in the kind of trouble
that others are in.
‘Healthy Americans
will now be able to return to work as individual conditions allow. Vulnerable
individuals will be protected. A certain level of testing and hospital capacity
must be met before advancing to each phase. This is a gradual process. As the
caseload in a state continues to go down restrictions can be eased and called
off.
‘If the virus
returns in the fall, as some scientists think it may, these guidelines will
ensure our country is up and running so we can put it out quickly.’
Vice President Mike
Pence later outlined the targets state would have to meet before they could
begin reopening, including a downward trajectory of influenza-like illnesses
for two weeks, as well as a downward trajectory of positive Coronavirus test
results for the same length of time.
According to
Coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx , restaurants and gyms will
also be allowed to re-open, although strict social distancing rules must be
carried out.
According to her,
schools should stay closed, with visits to nursing homes banned during phase
one while phase two will see non-essential travel allowed again, as well as
elective surgeries, and schools reopened.
But she said visits
to nursing homes will still be prohibited to prevent the elderly from getting
the virus.
The US Coronavirus
death toll as at Friday stands at 34,784..
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