US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn, on Sunday, said that the White House is planning to relax stay-at-home restriction across the nation from May 1 provided the administration succeeds in containing the spread of the deadly coronavirus. However, Hahn also cautioned that it is too early to say that the target date of relaxing stay-at-home restrictions will be met.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world crossed 17 lakh on Saturday. The United States, which has become the new epicenter, on Saturday, eclipsed the total number of cases in Italy and Spain as confirmed cases reached 527,111 and deaths surpassed 20,000, that's world's highest death toll.
US hopeful about May 1 target date
Hahn on Sunday told ABC's This Week, that if things fall in place, US officials might consider relaxing the stay-at-home restrictions. "We see light at the end of the tunnel," he said. However, there were a lot of other factors that need to be taken into consideration and will play a major role in determining, if it would a wise decision to ease restrictions.
Death toll surpassed 20,000 on Saturday, as Wyoming became the 50th state to gain approval for a disaster declaration. This means, there is now such a declaration within all 50 states due to the coronavirus pandemic. This is the first time a president has ever declared a major disaster in all 50 states at once.
Is May 1 too early to relax restrictions?
Although the Trump administration said that death toll in US may not be as high as it was earlier estimated, experts say that the crisis is yet to reach its peak with the country hit new highs every day. New York is one of the most affected places. On Saturday, New York City's Mayor Bill de Blasio said that public schools will remain closed through the end of the academic year because of the coronavirus.
Although a few European countries like Denmark, Austria and Czech Republic are planning to ease restrictions from this week, the United States is still nowhere near such a situation to do so. The country's economy has already taken a major hit, with the government announcing a massive $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package to help businesses and the economy get back on their feet.
In fact, Trump had earlier hinted at plans of reopening the economy by mid April but the sudden surge in coronavirus cases have prevented the administration to do so. Needless to say, the Trump administration plans to reopen the country at the earliest for economic reasons but a it is too early to predict a date.
