As the federal government's social distancing guidelines expire, United States President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the said guidelines will just "fade out." He also said that he is counting on the states to implement regulations as the country slowly eases into reopening.
According to Time, Trump's administration stated that the cautionary guidelines that it issued 45 days ago, in the early days of the pandemic has been incorporated into recommendations which have been given to the states. The said advice includes how the states can begin to gradually loosen on the restrictions and open their economies.
During his meeting with the Democratic governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, Trump told reporters that the restrictions will just be fading out as the governors are now taking over the responsibility.
Edwards also responded to Trump's statement by saying that his state as turned the corner in fighting the virus and that meeting on that day has brought them hopeful signs of a possible treatment. However, not the same can be said about the status of the economy.
As the coronavirus spread, the US economy was highly affected. In the last quarter it sank by a 4.8% annual rate, this, however, is only a preview of what could possibly be a grimmer report which is expected by the summer due to the health crisis that has triggered a severe recession.
Transition is not going as 'smoothly' as Trump says
However, despite the fact that Trump seemed pretty confident that the governors are already handling the recovery of their respective states, the transition from the imposed restrictions is not going as smoothly as expected.
Edwards has been commended by the president for doing a good job in controlling the spread of the virus in New Orleans, which was one of the hot spots of the virus in the country. However, the said commendation seemed to disagree with the current reaction of Republican lawmakers against Edwards. The governor is currently under fire for extending the stay-at-home order in the state until the 15th of may.
The president has once threatened to force the states to reopen but has also said that he will leave the decision to the local government.
In addition, Trump also confirmed that the White House will no longer extend its "30 Days to Slow the Spread" guidelines as they expire. The guidelines were initially only set for 15 days but were extended for 30 more days due to the rampant spread of the virus n the country.
Aside from Trump's statements, Vice President Mike Pence also stated that the new guidelines that the White House has laid out guides the states on how they can gradually reopen as the number of cases subside.
As of the moment, the White House has been talking about the possibility that the experimental drug Remdesivir can help patients recover faster. Based on a major study by the National Institute of Health, the drug has been proven effective in shortening the time of patient recovery by four days.
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