Trump's Letter to U.S. Governors - the Next Phase May Involve a 'Relaxing' of Wuhan Coronavirus Guidelines

President Trump letter to governors

So how much longer does America stay home?

On Thursday, the President sent a letter to governors across the nation indicating his plan to soon revisit last week’s “15 Days to Stop the Spread” (which I featured here).

As per a screenshot provided by Politico reporter (and former ABC journalist) Meridith McGraw, Trump began with a Thank You in praise of America and its local leaders:

“As you know, on March 16, 2020, I published my Coronavirus Guidelines for America. States, localities, and citizens across our country have responded to this call to action in full force, making tremendous sacrifices in support of our National effort to defeat the virus. I want to thank each of you, along with your frontline responders and essential workers, for stepping up to help America confront this unprecedented global pandemic.”

And he trumpeted hope:

“There is still a long battle ahead, but our efforts are already paying dividends.”

New letter to state governors from @realDonaldTrump states they hope to revise the WH guidelines and classify counties by risk as testing capabilities expand pic.twitter.com/5NijS6liXo

— Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) March 26, 2020

POTUS also noted the citizenry’s desire to “resume their normal economic, social, and religious lives.”

Apropos, the White House will be looking at refined guidelines that could indeed require more vigilance, but may involve “relaxing social distancing and other mitigation measures” currently in place.

So what’s next? A lot of analysis, along with a more individual addressing of the nation’s COVID-19 problems by county:

“This is what we envision: Our expanded testing capabilities will quickly enable us to publish criteria, developed in close coordination with the Nation’s public health officials and scientists, to help classify counties with respect to continued risks posed by the virus. This will incorporate robust surveillance testing, which allows us to monitor the spread of the virus throughout the country. Under these data-driven criteria, we will suggest guidelines categorizing counties as high-risk medium-risk, or low-risk.”

And to be sure, we’re making progress:

“With each passing day, our increasingly extensive testing capabilities are giving us a better understanding of the virus and its path. As testing gives us more information about who has been infected, we are tracking the virus and isolating it to prevent further spread.”

And that info, he explained, will be the driving force behind the next phase of the United States’ fight.

The President closed with a tribute to those who have struggled from — and succumbed to — the sickness:

“The virus has inflicted a heavy toll on our country. A number of our fellow citizens have tragically succumbed to its ravages, while many more are fighting for their lives. We mourn alongside those who have lost loved ones, and we send our prayers for the recovery of all who are still sick.”

“In their honor,” he said, his administration pledges “to marshal every resource and power” in order to “overcome and vanquish this threat.”

At the time of this writing, in New York — America’s Wuhan flu Ground Zero — there are 35,836 active cases. Of the state’s 37,738 total cases, 385 have lost their lives.

Across the U.S. (including its territories), there have been 81,950 cases. Of those, 1,177 have died.

Even so, of course, the country can’t stay closed.

As reported by The Daily Caller, last week saw a record of unemployment claims — a whopping 3.28 million.

People need to feed themselves and their families, and Trump indicated earlier in the week that he’d like to see the American economy re-open by Easter.

Will it?

Whether or not it does, I believe in a critical line from the Commander-in-Chief’s first paragraph above: