Donald Trump set to lay out ‘guidelines’ for reopening US
US president Donald Trump is tonight expected to release medically-approved guidelines to reopen parts of the country’s economy, which has been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic.
A White House official said that the president would use this evening’s press conference to lay out the “recommendations”, which are “flexible and data-driven”.
The official added that the guidelines had been signed off by members of Trump’s White House coronavirus taskforce.
The social distancing measures that have been implemented across the US have put an unprecedented number of people out of work.
Data provided by the US labor department today showed that an extra 5.2m people had applied for unemployment benefit as of last week, taking the total number of jobless claims in the last month to over 22m.
The guidelines, which Trump will first discuss with state governors, will differ according to the severity of the coronavirus outbreak in different states.
The official said that state governors would have the choice as to whether to carry out the guidelines, stressing that they were meant to be looked on in such terms.
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Governors have grouped together according to their regional situation to coordinate on the reopening, with groups forming on both coasts and in the Midwest.
More than 90 per cent of the country has been under stay-at-home orders with businesses, schools, restaurants and entertainment venues shuttered.
US coronavirus deaths rose above 32,000 today, by far the highest in the world.
Trump has traded blows with several state governors about the issue of reopening parts of the economy in recent days, at one point claiming “total authority” to do so according to his will.
Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York state, which has the worst outbreak in the US, has pushed back against the claims.
Trump’s re-election hopes for November hinge on the performance of the country’s economy, so he is keen to get parts of the nation up and running as soon as practicable.
The president is expected to address the press at 10pm GMT.