TRUMP PUSHES TO REOPEN U.S. ECONOMY.
Trump pushes to reopen economy despite spike
NEW YORK • The worst of the coronavirus outbreak would hit New York state faster and harder than previously thought, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday as the World Health Organization said the United States could emerge as the epicentre of the pandemic.
As U.S. President Donald Trump pressed his case for a reopening of the country’s economy within a few weeks, Cuomo said that being too hasty to ease the limits on travel, socializing and working together would cost lives.
“If you ask the American people to choose between public health and the economy, then it’s no contest. No American is going to say accelerate the economy at the cost of human life,” he said in Manhattan.
Cuomo’s state is the worst hit by the outbreak, which has infected more than 50,000 people in the U.S. and killed at least 660. The death toll in New York from COVID-19 has reached 157.
The expected need for hospital beds in New York at the peak of the outbreak has jumped to 140,000, Cuomo said, compared with 110,000 projected recently. Only 53,000 beds are now available.
The rate of infection is doubling every three days in New York and the worst of the outbreak, known as the apex, could arrive in 14 to 21 days, putting huge pressure on health services, Cuomo said.
A week after New Yorkers and millions of other Americans began taking shelter at home from the coronavirus, state officials and financial investors warned on Tuesday against easing restrictions too soon.
Trump said on Monday he was considering how to restart business life when a 15-day shutdown ends next week, even as the highly contagious virus spreads rapidly and poorly equipped hospitals struggle with a wave of deadly cases.
The Republican president is seeking to win re-election in November on a promise of economic growth.
Trump told a virtual town hall broadcast on Fox News Channel that he would like to see U.S. businesses opening their doors by Easter, to be celebrated this year in mid-april.
“I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter,” he said.
But Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, also a Republican, pushed back on the notion that an easing of restrictions might start anytime soon. We don’t think we’ll be out of this situation in that period from whenever “this imaginary clock” began, he told CNN.
The World Health Organization on Tuesday warned the U.S. could become the global epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, citing a “very large acceleration” in infections.