Trump Mulls Lifting Social Distancing Recommendations In Face Of Economic Concerns

The New York Times: Trump Considers Reopening Economy, Over Health Experts’ Objections
As the United States entered Week 2 of trying to contain the spread of the coronavirus by shuttering large swaths of the economy, President Trump, Wall Street executives and many conservative economists began questioning whether the government had gone too far and should instead lift restrictions that are already inflicting deep pain on workers and businesses. Consensus continues to grow among government leaders and health officials that the best way to defeat the virus is to order nonessential businesses to close and residents to confine themselves at home. Britain, after initially resisting such measures, essentially locked down its economy on Monday, as did the governors of Virginia, Michigan and Oregon. More than 100 million Americans will soon be subject to stay-at-home orders. (Tankersley, Haberman and Rabin, 3/23)

The Associated Press: Trump Says He Intends To Reopen Country In Weeks, Not Months
“We can’t have the cure be worse than the problem,” Trump told reporters at a briefing, echoing a midnight Sunday tweet. “We have to open our country because that causes problems that, in my opinion, could be far bigger problems.” Health experts have made clear that unless Americans continue to dramatically limit social interaction — staying home from work and isolating themselves — the number of infections will overwhelm the health care system, as it has in parts of Italy, leading to many more deaths. While the worst outbreaks are concentrated in certain parts of the country, such as New York, experts warn that the highly infectious disease is certain to spread. (Colvin, Boak and Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/23)

Reuters: Trump Suggests He May Scale Back Closures Soon Despite Worsening Coronavirus Outbreak
Trump issued guidelines a week ago that he said aimed to slow the spread of the disease over 15 days, including curbing unnecessary travel. In the meantime, economic activity has ground to a halt in some states. But watching the loss of many jobs and a sharp drop in stock markets and facing a tough re-election battle, Trump has privately expressed worries to aides and allies about the impact of the restrictions on the long-term health of the economy. (Holland and Mason, 3/23)

The Wall Street Journal: As Economic Toll Mounts, Nation Ponders Trade-Offs
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday acknowledged the trade-offs and defended his administration’s decision to close all nonessential businesses and ban unnecessary gatherings of any size. “I’m very proud of the measures being taken to address the public health crisis. …But, I’m also very aware that it is unsustainable to run this state and run this country with the economy closed down,” he said at a news conference in Albany. The stakes have rarely been higher for the nation: The risk of death to millions, and the cost of millions of jobs and potential bankruptcies if businesses and households can’t earn cash flow to pay their bills. (Hisenrath and Armour, 3/23)

The Washington Post: Trump Vows To Lift Restrictions To Reopen Businesses, Defying The Advice Of Coronavirus Experts
The consensus among experts — including infectious disease expert Anthony S. Fauci and other senior officials on Trump’s coronavirus task force — is that restaurants, bars, schools, offices and other gathering places should remain closed for many more weeks to mitigate the outbreak, the worst effects of which are yet to be felt in the United States. But Trump has been chafing against that notion and impatient to get American life back to normal. (Rucker, Stein, Dawsey and Parker, 3/23)

Politico: Health Officials Want Trump To ‘Double Down, Not Lighten Up’ Restrictions
Health experts are contending the fallout will be worse if the White House declares victory now, only to have the virus resurface weeks or months from now. The government, they argue, has yet to definitively answer key questions that would dictate how to reactivate the economy: Do those who recover from coronavirus become immune? How do underlying health conditions affect the severity of the virus? And, most important, how widely has it spread? Others have stressed the political risks facing Trump and his reelection campaign if the outbreak worsens significantly, warning that it would be catastrophic if the virus made a comeback closer to the November election — especially after Trump declared himself a “wartime” president and assured the public that his administration was in control. (Cancryn and Cook, 3/23)

NBC News: Tensions Brewing Inside The White House Over Economic Consequences Of Coronavirus Response
The president was cautioned early on against setting expectations that after two weeks, the country would return to normal, an administration official said. He is also being warned not to back off on the necessary restrictions on movement and social interactions, not only by public health officials but also his allies in Congress. "President Trump’s best decision was stopping travel from China early on," Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., said. "I hope we will not undercut that decision by suggesting we back off aggressive containment policies within the United States." (Alexander and Pettypiece, 3/23)

Los Angeles Times: Will Texas And Florida Be 'The Next Italy' In Coronavirus Outbreak?
Gavin Newsom was the first governor to order his citizens to stay at home, shutting down California’s economy, the world’s eighth-largest, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The next day, Friday, Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, followed suit. But not so in Texas and Florida, the nation’s second and third most populous states, where a small-government philosophy — less taxes, fewer regulation and a weaker safety net — has long held sway. About one-fifth of Texas’ 29 million people lacks health insurance, and nearly one-quarter of Florida’s 21 million residents are elderly. (Hennessy-Fiske and Kaleem, 3/23)

The New York Times: See Which States And Cities Have Told Residents To Stay At Home
In a matter of days, millions of Americans have been asked to do what might have been unthinkable only a week or two ago: Don’t go to work, don’t go to school, don’t leave the house at all, unless you have to. The directives to keep people at home to stunt the spread of the coronavirus began in California, and have quickly been adopted across the country. By Monday, more than a dozen states had called on their residents to stay at home as much as possible, with some cities and counties joining in. (Mervosh and Lu, 3/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Across The U.S., Residents Heed Lockdown Orders
State by state, America is locking down its residents, as more officials urge people to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus by limiting their interactions with the world outside of their homes. Jeff Binder and his wife decided that starting Monday no visitors would be allowed into their house in Webster Groves, Mo., with even limits on extended family. That came as St. Louis County, where they live, joined the growing list of municipalities flat-out ordering residents to stay home. “The world is shrinking for sure,” said Mr. Binder, who is 51 years old and the managing director of a real-estate brokerage firm for senior housing. But he calls the lockdown a necessary step: “Whatever it takes to get us to the other side.” (Levitz and Maher, 3/24)

CNN: Why Some People Just Won't Stay Home Despite The Advice 
Living through a pandemic is strange. Most of us have never been asked to make sacrifices like this before -- staying home and limiting contact with others. All that disruption can make people anxious. And for some, that includes ignoring the novel coronavirus altogether and carrying on as though it's business as usual. Despite repeated pleas from public health and government officials to stay home and slow the spread of Covid-19, many people just won't. (Andrew, 3/24)

CNN: Trump Predicts 'This Is Going To Be Bad' But Vows To Reopen America 
President Donald Trump appears to have made his choice in the awful dilemma posed by the coronavirus pandemic -- whether to destroy the nation's economic foundation in order to save lives. In his zeal to fire up American prosperity after helping to trigger an unprecedented self-inflicted economic meltdown, Trump is already losing patience -- weeks before the virus may peak. "Our country was not built to be shut down," the President warned on Monday. "We are going to be opening up our country for business because our country was meant to be open." (Collinson, 3/24)