WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has revealed new guidelines on Thursday for U.S. states to emerge from a coronavirus shutdown in a staggered, three-stage approach meant to revive the U.S. economy even as the country continues to fight the pandemic.
The
recommendations call on states to show a “downward trajectory” of COVID-19
cases or positive tests for the disease over 14 days before proceeding with the
plan, which gradually loosens restrictions on businesses that have been
shuttered to blunt the spread of the virus.
“We are not
opening all at once, but one careful step at a time,” Trump told reporters at
the White House. The president had said earlier this month he wanted to reopen
the economy with a “big bang.”
The plan is
a set of recommendations for state governors, not orders. In that sense, it
represents a back down by Trump, who on Monday insisted he had total authority
to direct states to re-open or remain closed. The responsibility for such
decisions lies with state, not federal, authorities.
With the
onus on governors, the plan also gives Trump political cover if not everything
goes well. The president, a Republican who is running for re-election in
November, has faced criticism for downplaying the seriousness of the virus in
the early weeks of the outbreak.
The
recommendations drew criticism from Ron Klain, who spearheaded the Obama
administration’s response to Ebola and has advised former Vice President Joe
Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee.
“This isn’t
a plan. It’s barely a powerpoint,” he said on Twitter, noting it did not
include provisions to ramp up testing or set a specific standard for levels of
the disease before economic opening.
Democrats
such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Biden said testing was key to opening
the country and criticized Trump’s presentation for lacking specifics.
“I wouldn’t
call it a plan. I think what he’s done, he’s kind of punted,” Biden said in an
interview on CNN.
The new
guidelines effectively end, at least for some states, the 30-day federal virus
mitigation rules that were meant to stay in place through the end of April.
States that have met the criteria can move into the first phase of re-opening
on Friday, Trump said. Some 29 states would be in a position to re-open soon, he
said.

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