Trump wants to reopen America by May despite expert concerns

US President Donald Trump has shrugged off the need to significantly expand countrywide coronavirus testing capabilities, saying he wants to reopen the country next month despite concerns from both economists and health experts that the worsening pandemic.

Trump, who reportedly wants to restart business by May 1, told reporters during a White House briefing on Thursday that his administration will ramp up testing to levels which are recommended by health experts but people have to go back to work.

“We want to have it and we’re going to see if we have it. Do you need it? No. Is it a nice thing to do? Yes,” Trump said. “We’re talking about 325 million people. And that’s not going to happen, as you can imagine, and it would never happen with anyone else either.”

On Friday, Trump said the decision on when and how to reopen the country is the most difficult one he’s had to make in his life.

“I don’t know that I’ve had a bigger decision. 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,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

“And we’re going to make a decision, and hopefully it’s going to be the right decision,” he added. “I will say this. I want to get it open as soon as we can.”

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin in an interview on Thursday was asked if he thought the country could reopen in about a month. He said, “I do.”

But US health experts are worried that reopening the country prematurely could severely reverse some of the progress the country has made in battling the coronavirus.

Trump’s former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, Scott Gottlieb, said that several million tests per week are needed to contain the disease.

Last week, the United States tested some 960,000 people, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

US deaths due to coronavirus topped 17,820 on Friday, with more than 475,000 confirmed cases.

MG