Officials are seeking to strike a delicate balance between protecting the lives of Americans amid the COVID-19 outbreak and accommodating people’s needs to get back to work and make a living.
Bipartisan calls are mounting to consider ways to restart the economy as soon as possible amid the pandemic to minimize the economic impact as parts of the country grind to a halt to mitigate the spread of the virus.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s point on shutting down of the economy being unsustainable is essentially correct.
“Once they’re resolved, let them go back to work. Let the younger people go back to work. Let the recovered people go to work,” Cuomo said, adding, “And then ramp up the economy with those individuals.”
Cuomo’s remarks follow statements made by Trump at a Monday press briefing, where the president sought to balance public health needs amid the outbreak with ways to minimize the economic impact of the crisis.
Trump told reporters that his administration will monitor the situation and use public health data “to recommend new protocols to allow local economies to cautiously resume their activity at the appropriate time.”
“We also have a large team working on what the next steps will be once the medical community gives a region the OK—meaning the ‘OK’ to get going, to get back, let’s go to work,” Trump said. “Our country wasn’t built to be shut down.”
“This is not a country that was built for this. It was not built to be shut down,” he added.
In his remarks Tuesday, Cuomo similarly called for exploration of ways to reconcile the apparently competing objectives.
“It’s not the economy or public health,“ Cuomo said. ”It’s restarting the economy and protecting public health, it’s both.”
Cuomo insisted people in high-risk groups, like the elderly, those with compromised immune systems or with underlying health conditions, should focus on staying safe amid the outbreak.
On Tuesday, Kudlow said that while Trump wants to restore economic activity as soon as it is feasible, the president would not disregard the advice of public health professionals.
Asked by reporters whether it’s worth opening up the economy at the expense of public health, Kudlow rejected framing the issue as a zero-sum equation.
“Tucker, no one reached out to me and said, ‘As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?’ And if that’s the exchange, I’m all in,” said Patrick, who is about to turn 70.
“My message is, let’s get back to work. Let’s get back to living,” Patrick said.
“Our biggest gift we give to our country, and our children and our grandchildren, is the legacy of our country,” he said. “And right now that is at risk, and I feel like, as the president said, the mortality rate is so low, do we have to shut down the whole country for this?”
“At the end of the 15-day period we’ll make a decision as to which way we want to go, where we want to go, the timing. And essentially we’re referring to the timing of the opening. Essentially the opening of our country,” Trump said Monday. “Because we have it pretty well shut down in order to get rid of this invisible enemy.”
“Stay at home” orders have been issued over the past week in multiple states, affecting more than one in three Americans, in efforts to curb the spread of the CCP virus that causes COVID-19. The states include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, West Virginia, and Washington.
Residents are recommended to remain at home unless they need to leave for essential activities. Non-essential businesses have also been ordered closed. Each state has slight variations as to what qualifies as “essential,” but generally the list encompasses grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies, and basic health services.
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