The United States has been one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak with more than 825,300 testing positive for Covid-19 and over 45,000 deaths. That said, Trump along with governors of half a dozen states in the United States is pushing ahead with plans of partial restart of their economies.
Trump signals early reopening
Trump on Wednesday showed support to governors of a few southern US states who are easing restrictions and loosening social distancing guidelines to start business in a bid to reopen the economy that has come to a standstill following the coronavirus outbreak.
"States are safely coming back. Our Country is starting to OPEN FOR BUSINESS again. Special care is, and always will be, given to our beloved seniors (except me!)," tweeted Trump early morning on Wednesday. Georgia is among the few states that will be allowing business to partially reopen. The state has already green-lighted the opening of gyms, hair salons, massage and tattoo parlors beginning Friday. The state will also reopen movie theatres and restaurants from next week.
Georgia among first few states to reopen
The decision to open Georgia, South Carolina and a handful of southern states comes after a series of protests in Michigan, Pennsylvania and some other cities, demanding a rollback of stay-at-home orders that had brought business and social life to a standstill.
Earlier this week, Trump shared his detailed plans for reopening the economy. The guidelines to reopen the economy recommend a state record of 14 days of declining cases of coronavirus. Instead, Georgia has reported only seven days of slowing coronavirus cases.
Georgia, which will be the first US state to allow opening of businesses, has reported 174,000 coronavirus cases and six deaths per 100,000 tested positive. Although both figures are below the national average, the state has one of the lowest testing rates, ranking 42nd out of the 50 states.
Is it too early to reopen the economy?
A series of protests had broken out last week, which also included some business owners, who demanded a rollback of the stay-at-home guidelines, as it put a halt to all business activities. However, public health officials have constantly been warning that an early reopening of the economy could result in a fresh surge of coronavirus.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield said that there are possibilities that the "assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through." In some other harder-hit states, tensions between Trump and governors have grown over the federal government's role in solving the existing shortage of testing, which experts feel is a prerequisite before considering reopening the economy.
