President Donald Trump’s expressed hope to reopen the U.S. economy amid the coronavirus pandemic by Easter drew scorn from The Washington Post editorial board on Tuesday.
“Going back to work too soon is reckless,” the board warned in its latest editorial. “More time is needed to break chains of transmission,” it said of the spread of the virus that has so far sickened more than 425,000 people worldwide and killed almost 19,000.
“What if returning to normal reignites a virus explosion?” the editorial asked. “How does anyone make sure that everyone by the water cooler is already recovered, or not infected?”
The newspaper acknowledged “at some point, return is inevitable,” but insisted “until a vaccine or drug therapy is found, tested and manufactured, getting back to normal will become a complex social, medical, economic and political problem.”
The next phase of combatting the virus “cannot possibly begin in just more than two weeks, as Mr. Trump wishfully maintains,” it added, cautioning how “even if we hunker down for longer, as China did, this stealthy virus could come roaring back if we do not make adequate preparations, beginning right now.”
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