The United States considers reopening its economy in May despite currently having the highest number of deaths due to the novel coronavirus. The country now has 22,079 confirmed cases as of Sunday night, according to the real-time data tracker from Johns Hopkins University.
Of the 22,079, New York City accounted for fro 6,898 deaths as of Sunday. At the same time, Nassau, New York accounted for 846 fatalities, Suffolk at 511, and Westchester at 511.
Outside New York, Wayne, Michigan saw the second-largest deaths at 704.
To date, the US also has the highest number of confirmed cases around the world at 557,300. It dwarfed China at 83,135 given that the Asian country was the epicenter of the outbreak in December 2019.
White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that the US government observed cautious optimism in its plan of reopening businesses in May. He said while reopening is not entirely rejected, the process should only be gradual and only to chosen regions of the country.
Speaking on CNN's State of the Union, Fauci said the economy should not be reopened like a light switch. Areas that showed a strong indication of leveling off the virus should only be the ones allowed to rejoin the economy again. As for social distancing, Fauci said it could be relaxed starting next month.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari warned that the US economy could face 18 months of rolling shutdowns. He said the observation was based on what was happening in countries where the outbreak was believed to have subsided.
Kashkari said there are countries that relax the economic controls as outbreak subsides but experience virus flaring back up again. He said this could be the case - controls, subsidies, flareups - up until vaccine is found. His opinion seemingly echoed that of David Nabarro, a special envoy of the World Health Organization. Nabarro said COVID-19 will continue to haunt the world, keep coming back until a vaccine is created.
Indeed, as the country now considers recommencement of economy, big businesses are only implementing measures against the spread of COVID-19.
Most recently, Walt Disney Co. has just announced plans of placing 43,000 workers at its resort in Orlando under leave of absence. To date, the future remains bleak for theme parks.
Disney said employees will keep their benefits for up to one year and will be eligible to apply for unemployment. At the same time, only 200 essential employees will continue with their work as all this happens.
Smithfield, one of the country's largest pork processing facilities, announced temporary closure as employees tested for the coronavirus. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said about 240 employees are sick. For context, the sate has 430 confirmed cases fo infections.
