President Trump signals a loosening of federal coronavirus guidelines
Comments come as metropolitan areas see spike in cases - NBC's Alice Barr reports.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (KYMA, KECY/NBC News) - With the coronavirus pandemic only growing worse, President Donald Trump says he's trying to strike a balance, showing signs of pivoting from the public health emergency to the economic one.
On the same day the World Health Organization predicted the U.S. could now become the epicenter of coronavirus, President Trump is making it clear he wants to loosen stay-at-home guidelines. Those are the same guidelines medical experts say are the best weapon in the battle against the spread.
The President says he hopes to re-open the country by Easter.
"We lose thousands of people a year to the flu. We never turn the country off. We lose much more than that to automobile accidents. We didn't call up the automobile industry and say stop making cars." said Trump on Fox News.
That message is starkly different from the one coming from New York's governor. Gov. Mario Cuomo, (D-NY), says coronavirus cases are spiking higher and faster than expected - doubling every three days.
"We were looking at a freight train coming across the country we're now looking at a bullet train." said Cuomo.
As the state and the military rush in to build field hospitals, the governor is begging for 30,000 more ventilators. He's also warning the rest of the country to get ready.
"We are your future." said the governor.
The President insists, hot spots can be closely monitored. He trusts those in less-affected areas can get back to work and still practice good hygiene and social distancing.
"Honestly, the American people have learned - weve all learned together between the shaking of the hands or the washing of the hands"
Stocks showed signs of rebounding Tuesday. The Dow surged above 20,000 amid hopes the Senate would soon pass a $2-trillion dollar stimulus package to kickstart the economy, and ease the pain for Americans in crisis.
