Some U.S. states are slowly reopening their economies after weeks of lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But as confirmed cases and death tolls continue to climb in the United States — by far the hardest hit country by the virus in the world — health experts are warning that drastic changes will be needed to be made before easing social restrictions.
Over the weekend, the nation’s top infectious-disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said that the U.S. would need to increase its testing for the virus by at least two-fold before it could begin reopening its economy.
“You need enough tests so when you’re doing what we’re trying to do right now, which is trying to ease our way back, that you can very easily identify, test, contact trace and get those who are infected out of society so they don’t infect others,” Fauci said in a webcast hosted Satuday by the National Academy of Sciences.
Over 940,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the United States, resulting in over 54,000 deaths.
Georgia, South Carolina, and Oklahoma are among the states that have already begun a partial reopening.
The Western state of Colorado will replace its stay-at-home order with a softer version which will include the opening of select businesses, most of which will be required to operate with only curbside pickup.
Other states have been more wary of entering the next phase of their orders too early.
“I don’t want to second guess my colleagues,” Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, chair of the National Governors Association, told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week Sunday”. “I’m going to be very cautious.”
New York, the state hardest-hit with the coronavirus, has been under a stay-at-home order since March 22. The executive order is set to expire on May 15, at which time governor Andrew Cuomo has said he will coordinate with neighboring states to slowly reopen their economies.
In a press briefing Sunday, Cuomo said the first phase of reopening will involve “low-risk” construction and manufacturing jobs, mostly in upstate New York.
“Downstate is more complicated,” Cuomo said, referring largely to New York City, where roughly one-third of all COVID-19 deaths in the United States have occurred.
“Coordination does not mean total consistency,” he said.
But the closing of businesses across the country has had a devastating effect employment.
