President Donald Trump is expected to disregard the sound medical advice of American medical experts and announce a selective opening of the COVID-19 ravaged U.S. economy. He's expected to end social distancing guidelines in states currently the least hit by the pandemic.
The 10 states with the fewest number of COVID-19 cases as of April 11, 8:30 a.m. ET, according to Johns Hopkins University, are Alaska, Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana, Hawaii, South Dakota, West Virginia, Maine, Nebraska and Vermont.
Of these states, seven are the Red States, or Republican Party strongholds: Alaska (246 cases), Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana, South Dakota, West Virginia and Nebraska (648 cases). It would make sense for Trump to lift social distancing guidance in the Red States to curry favor with GOP voters ahead of the November presidential election. National polls continue to show the de facto presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, former vice president Joe Biden, defeating Trump in November.
Trump has long wanted to re-open the economy, infamously saying he wanted to re-open it by April 12 (Easter Sunday). This day, however, has all the hallmarks of becoming the third day in a row where deaths in the U.S. from the disease exceed 2,000 in a single day. The virus killed 2,074 people on Friday alone -- the first time deaths have exceeded 2,000 in one day in the U.S. or in any other country. Trump is now saying he wants to re-open the economy by May 1 at the earliest.
"This idea that on May 1 we can just turn the switch, this will not be good from a public health perspective or for our economy," said Anand Parekh, chief medical adviser at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
When asked by a reporter what metrics he'd use to come to a final conclusion, Trump pointed at his head, making clear it'll all depend on his opinion and not on medical evidence at hand.
On the other hand, U.S. public health experts have warned about the risk of reopening the country too early. Doing so might lead to the nightmare scenario where COVID-19 again surges and overwhelms hospitals.
Trump was nonchalant on Friday when discussing his decision to ease social distancing.
"I don't know that I've had a bigger decision," said Trump. "But I'm going to surround myself with the greatest minds. Not only the greatest minds, but the greatest minds in numerous different businesses, including the business of politics and reason. And we're going to make a decision, and hopefully, it's going to be the right decision. I will say this. I want to get it open as soon as we can."
Political pundits note that since he never issued a nationwide lockdown order, Trump has no basis for ordering state governors to end their social distancing measures. Trump has clearly left it to individual states to handle the pandemic on their own.
