The federal response to Covid-19 is primarily managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Washington Post recently uncovered that the two agencies have a draft plan to reopen the economy in mid-May.
The document titled “A Framework for Re-Opening America,” was created as an early draft on the health aspect of reopening the US economy. The plan suggests that the process should vary by state. States could reopen after showing their infection numbers were “genuinely low” and that testing and treatment capabilities are adequate.
Schools and childcare centers would be the first to reopen, followed by parks and religious institutions. The document acknowledges that reopening the economy presents a “significant” risk of a return of Covid-19 infections.
President Trump wants to reopen the economy at the beginning of May and is assembling a team of business leaders and economists to assist him.
Health experts warn that the nation’s testing infrastructure is not yet developed enough for reopening the economy.
According to John Hopkins University, the US had 640,291 infections and 31,015 deaths from Covid-19 at noon on April 16th. The number of deaths in the US has been going up by a average of about 2,000 people a day. These numbers show that the US is still in a very serious public health crisis, which is unlikely to end soon.