Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Donald Trump wants US ‘opened up’ by Easter, ignoring experts’ warnings of health risks

Donald Trump wants US ‘opened up’ by Easter, ignoring experts’ warnings of health risks

US president says reopening businesses is crucial; ‘otherwise, it's going to be very hard to start it up again’. The call to resume business as usual runs against advice from medical experts, who warn that such a move would kill more people

US President Donald Trump declared on Tuesday that he aims to end strict social distancing measures enacted to halt the coronavirus spread by Easter Sunday – in less than three weeks – to avoid prolonged economic damage.

Speaking in a Fox News interview in the White House Rose Garden, Trump said that strong gains in US stock markets on Tuesday reflect “the fact that we’re opening up this incredible country because we have to do that. I’d love to have it open by Easter.” The holiday falls on April 12 this year.

“More people are going to die” unless businesses are allowed to reopen, the president said. “Our country has to get back to work, otherwise it’s going to be very hard to start it up again.”

Trump has become increasingly vocal in the past two days about the need to end stay-at-home orders imposed on nearly one-third of Americans to slow the spread of the pandemic. More states, including Pennsylvania and Ohio, joined New York, California, Illinois, Connecticut and New Jersey in tightening restrictions.


But Trump is pushing for a stop to these measures, largely against the advice of most health experts, who warn that the spread of the contagion – which causes the potentially deadly Covid-19 respiratory ailment – is not abating in the US.

“Anyone advising the end of social distancing now, needs to fully understand what the country will look like if we do that,” Tom Englesby, head of Johns Hopkins Centre for Health Security, said in a Twitter post on Monday. “COVID would spread widely, rapidly, terribly, could kill potentially millions in the [year] ahead with huge social and economic impact across the country.”

Asked in the Fox News interview whether Trump’s Easter time frame was realistic, Deborah Birx, the deputy to Vice-President Mike Pence in the White House Covid-19 task force, did not answer directly.

Birx instead explained that her task force “tackled this epidemic the way people said we should have tackled flu, in 1918, and they compared St Louis who took this kind of approach to Philadelphia”.

“Every American needs to continue the president’s guidelines for these next six days or seven days. We have to have them following those [social distancing] guidelines,” she said.

According to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch report last week, St. Louis’ death rate was lowest among America’s 10 biggest cities at the time of the 1918 influenza pandemic because of strict quarantine measures that the city imposed when health authorities there saw cases emerge.

“In Philadelphia, where bodies piled up on sidewalks when the morgues overflowed, the death rate was nearly twice as high,” the report said.

Other prominent figures have called for Americans to stick with the stay-at-home orders.

“It’s very tough to say to people, ‘Hey, keep going to restaurants, go buy new houses, ignore that pile of bodies over in the corner, we want you to keep spending because there’s some politician that thinks GDP growth is what counts’,” Bill Gates, whose Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funds health initiatives worldwide, said in a TED Connects discussion.

“What we need is the extreme shutdown, so that in six to 10 weeks, if things go well, then you can start opening back up,” Gates said, without referring directly to Trump.

However, Trump dismissed criticism of his call for an early return to work.

“I’m sure that we have doctors that would say, ‘let’s keep it closed for two years, let's close it up for two years,” the president said in Tuesday’s interview. “No, we got to get it open. Our people want it to open and that's the way this country was built.”

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
×