Trump hopes to reopen US economy in May, White House officials announce

During an address on CNBC on Thursday morning, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced that the date would mark a month since the government declared its ’30 Days to Slow the Spread’ plan. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump announced that there will be a new tatk force designated to fight the economic recession from the coronavirus crisis.

When CNBC host Jim Cramer asked Mr Mnuchin if he thinks “the doctors let us, that we could be open for business in the month of May,” Mr Mnuchin replied: “I do.”

Originally Mr Trump said the country would be back to business by Easter Sunday.

But he failed to set a specific date when asked about it again on Thursday morning.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the economy can “snapback” in the next four to eight weeks.

“I still believe, given our assistance package and hope and maybe prayer that we’re at a four-to-eight week period, we can get a pretty good snapback, a good snapback. That’s my hope,” he told reporters at the White House.

Donald Trump

Originally Mr Trump said the country would reopen by Easter Sunday (Image: Getty)

“The sooner we begin to reopen, the faster that snapback’s going to be. That’s the rule of thumb that I think most economists would agree with.”

President Trump will introduce a new task force dedicated to fighting the negative effect of the pandemic crisis on the country’s economy.

The task force will include private-sector and top administration officials, as well as chief of staff Mark Meadows, Mnuchin and Kudlow.

But medical experts might not support their plans to open the economy so soon.

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US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (Image: Getty)

Health care officials have warned that social distancing regulations must stay in place to avoid a second wave of the pandemic.

On Thursday morning on ABC’s Good Morning America, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said: “What we need to do is to make sure we don’t let up on those mitigation, those physical separation programs, because if we do that can just bounce back again.

“The virus itself will determine the guideline. We hope that by the time we get to this extended 30-day period, you know, we went from the 15 days of mitigation to the additional 30 days, which gets us to the end of April.

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The special coronavirus intake area at Maimonides Medical Center, New York City

The special coronavirus intake area at Maimonides Medical Center, New York City (Image: Getty)

“I do hope by the time we get there that we will well see that curve, that bending in the curve which we’ve been talking about now for several weeks,

“You never want to claim victory prematurely. You hope that we’ll see that curve go down and then can start to think about gradually getting back to some sort of steps towards normality.”

Last week, 6.6 million people filed unemployment claims in the country, according to the latest Labor Department official data.

This means one in ten Americans have lost their job due to the economic impact of the lockdown measures.

The new employment figures represent the largest and fastest wave of job losses in records since 1948.

A sign pleading for help hangs in a window at the Cook County jail complex, Chicago

A sign pleading for help hangs in a window at the Cook County jail complex, Chicago (Image: Getty)

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced new regulations to get essential workers back to work faster.

Some have seen this as an indication that the government intends to slowly start to reopen the country.

The previous guidelines stated that someone who had been in contact with someone else who had tested positive for the disease had to remain in quarantine for two weeks.

Under the new regulations critical workers could return to work immediately if they are asymptomatic.

“One of the most important things we can do is keep our critical workforce working,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said at a White House news briefing on Wednesday.

Trump noted on Twitter Wednesday that the economy will be reopened “sooner rather than later.”

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