Surgeon General: Country Won't Be Ready To Open On May 1

Surgeon General Jerome Adams stated Friday that it was likely most of the country will need to continue observing stay-at-home guidelines come May 1. Though some areas are seeing success from isolation practices, many others are still struggling with ever increasing coronavirus infection rates.

Adams appeared on Fox News to discuss the possibility of lifting the federal government’s social distancing guidelines, something President Donald Trump has been pushing for at the end of April. Fretting over ailing stock markets and soaring unemployment numbers, Trump has been adamant about getting Americans back to work as soon as possible. Unfortunately, it appears this optimism hasn’t been matched by reality, according to Adams.

Asked about opening the country on May 1, Adams said, “Most of the country will not [open], to be honest with you, but some will. And that's how we'll reopen the country: place by place, bit by bit, based on the data.”

“And as we ramp up testing and can feel more confident that these places actually can do surveillance and can do public health follow-up, some places will be able to think about opening on May 1,” Adams said.

Adams’ remarks are a departure from the general stance taken by the rest of the administration. Although Trump has begrudgingly backed down on his desire to prematurely relax coronavirus guidelines by Easter, he has been consistent in stating his belief that the crisis will pass sooner than experts have projected.

For Trump, getting Americans back to work quickly is crucial to save an economy currently in a nose dive. If the country enters a recession or worse under his leadership, it won’t serve him well at the polls in November, and that’s something he’s well aware of.

Although Trump might not necessarily realize it, Republicans have also come to understand the importance of controlling the public perception of the White House’s handling of the pandemic. With few Americans’ lives left untouched by the coronavirus outbreak, it will undoubtedly become a central issue during the presidential race.