Fauci Called For ‘Rolling Reentry’ Beginning In May—Here’s What That Could Look Like

TOPLINEDr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday it’s possible the U.S. could start to ease social distancing guidelines and begin to reopen the country next month but added that it would have to be done in a “rolling”, state-by-state way; here’s what that means:

KEY FACTS

Fauci, one of the nation’s top health experts, said that opening up the country isn’t like flipping a “light switch” and would have to be done on a “rolling,” region-specific basis — as opposed to a blanket green light from the federal government to reopen. 

“It is not going to be a light switch that we say, ‘OK, it is now June, July, or whatever, click, the light switch goes back on,’” Fauci told CNN “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper. “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.”

Fauci added that certain regions of the U.S. could reopen beginning in May depending on the severity of the outbreak in the area and so long as there’s widespread testing to track down new coronavirus outbreaks.

On Monday, governors from across the country appeared to be following Fauci’s advice: the governors of California, Oregon and Washington announced a joint effort to reopen their states, hours after the governors of six East Coast states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Rhode Island agreed to a similar measure (still, all governors maintained that it would be up to each individual state about when to reopen and that the agreements were part of a coordinated strategy.)

And New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that any easing of stay-at-home restrictions would require massive amounts of testing: “We’ve done more testing in New York than some countries have done. It’s not enough if you want to reopen on a meaningful scale and reopen quickly.”

Key background:

President Trump has been very eager to get the country’s economy going again and at one point said he hoped to have the U.S. “opened up and just raring to go by Easter,” a statement he later backed down from. 

At the same time, the president has said it is his decision about when to reopen the country — not the governors. “It is the decision of the President, and for many good reasons,” Trump tweeted Monday. “With that being said, the Administration and I are working closely with the Governors, and this will continue. A decision by me, in conjunction with the Governors and input from others, will be made shortly!” 

However, some governors do not agree. “Well, seeing as we had the responsibility for closing the state down,” Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania said to the New York Times
NYT
rebuffing Trump, “I think we probably have the primary responsibility for opening it up.”

And legal experts are not convinced the president even has the power to reopen the country, as Reuters reports.

Still, the federal government has issued nonbinding guidelines on social distancing that extend through the end of April. These guidelines, even though they’re nonbinding, have tremendous sway over the states, as the New York Times reports. 

Chief critic:

Dr. Christopher Murray, a researcher in global health and public health at the University of Washington, told Time that data shows opening up the country at the end of April would be a bad idea because states don’t have the ability to handle another influx of cases.

“By July or August we could be back in the same situation we are now,” he said.


Speak Your Mind

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Get in Touch

350FansLike
100FollowersFollow
281FollowersFollow
150FollowersFollow

Recommend for You

Oh hi there 👋
It’s nice to meet you.

Subscribe and receive our weekly newsletter packed with awesome articles that really matters to you!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

You might also like

Nets GM Says Kevin Durant’s Potential Return This Season...

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 10: Kevin Durant #7...

New Documentary ‘Belly Of The Beast’ Explores A Sadly...

Kelli Dillon, right, and lawyer Cynthia Chandler in "Belly...

Cost-cutting: Air India halves European network – Times of...

NEW DELHI: Air India has cut its European footprint by half as a cost-cutting...

Ransomware attack before holiday leaves companies scrambling – Times...

Businesses scrambled Saturday to contain a ransomware attack that has paralyzed their computer networks,...