WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the federal government will not be extending its coronavirus social-distancing guidelines once they expire today.
U.S. deaths from covid-19 passed 60,000 on Wednesday, as hopes rose for a drug treatment that the top U.S. infectious-disease expert said has shown a clear benefit in an early trial.
Meanwhile, Trump said he plans to resume official travel with a trip to Arizona next week. And he said he's hoping to hold campaign rallies in the coming months with thousands of supporters.
Trump welcomed the promising early signs that an experimental antiviral drug, remdesivir, can be effective in speeding the recovery time for covid-19 patients. The U.S. government said it is working to make the medication available to patients as quickly as possible.
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"The data shows that remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery," Dr. Anthony Fauci said alongside Trump at the White House on Wednesday. "That is really quite important."
The U.S. death toll eclipses the number of American service members killed in the Vietnam War. The comparison, although imperfect, indicates the scope of the outbreak since the first death in February in the United States and its territories, according to figures compiled by The Washington Post.
As antsy Americans show growing signs of "quarantine fatigue" and officials face pressure to ease coronavirus restrictions, factories, malls and state governments in many parts of the country are taking steps toward reopening.
But Fauci also said Wednesday that a second wave of infections is "inevitable" in the United States, which has recorded more than 1 million confirmed cases -- nearly one-third of the global total. Fauci also warned that "we could be in for a bad fall and a bad winter" if the right countermeasures aren't put in place.
"It's not going to disappear from the planet," the nation's top epidemiologist said in a Tuesday interview with the Economic Club of Washington, District of Columbia. "In my mind, it's inevitable that we will have a return of the virus or maybe it never even went away," he said.
The president didn't say exactly when he envisioned his campaign rallies returning, but said the timing would depend, in part, on the states, since some have had far fewer cases than others. The federal government and most states have urged residents to avoid mass gatherings and to remain at least 6 feet apart.
The announcement came after Trump said he will not be extending the White House's "30 Days to Slow the Spread" guidelines when they expire today.
"They'll be fading out because now the governors are doing it," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as he met with John Bel Edwards, the Democratic governor of Louisiana.
Those guidelines -- which were originally supposed to last 15 days and were then extended an additional 30 -- encouraged Americans to work from home and avoid restaurants, group gatherings and discretionary travel and advised older Americans and those with serious underlying health conditions to isolate themselves.
Vice President Mike Pence said the guidelines have been incorporated into the new guidance issued by the White House earlier this month that lays out how states can gradually ease restrictions and begin to reopen as the rate of new cases slows.
DAMAGE CLEAR
Meanwhile, the economic toll of the virus became clearer.
The U.S. economy shrank by 4.8% from January through March as it saw the worst slowdown in growth since the last recession.
Trump did not directly comment on that glum first-quarter result, but he gave a cheerful prediction of a quick rebound.
"I think next year is going to be an incredible year for our economy," he said at a White House event later Wednesday. "I think the fourth quarter is going to be really, really good."
Trump invited business leaders from Hilton, Toyota, Waffle House and others to present their plans for resuming regular business.
"I think there's a tremendous pent-up demand," Trump said. "I think we want to go back to where it was. When I look at a baseball game, I want to see people right next to each other," Trump said.
"I don't want to see four seats in between every person, so the stadium becomes 25% of its original size. No, I want to see the NFL with a packed house. I don't want to see NFL with three seats in between people. No, I don't want to."
The White House announced Wednesday that Trump will participate in a live town hall question-and-answer session on Sunday evening, broadcast by Fox News from the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial. The president will "answer your questions about safely returning to work," press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted.
Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner derided the "eternal lockdown crowd" as he claimed during a morning television interview that "extraordinary" strides have been made in developing coronavirus testing capacity.
Appearing on Fox News' Fox & Friends, Kushner offered an optimistic scenario about the expansion of testing, which health experts say remains among the greatest challenges in reopening the economy safely in the coming months.
"The goal here is to get people back to work," he added. "The eternal lockdown crowd can make jokes on late-night television, but the reality is that the data is on our side, and President Trump has created a pathway to safely open up our country and make sure that we can get our economy going and get Americans back to a place where it will be even stronger than it was."
That prompted a sharp rejoinder from Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill.
"There is no 'eternal lockdown crowd,' " Rush wrote on Twitter. "There are people who put human health over the health of our economy, and then there are people like you."
McCONNELL WORRIES
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., warned Wednesday of a potential "second pandemic" -- of lawsuits -- if his idea of shielding businesses from liability is not included in the next round of legislation crafted by Congress in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
McConnell's description came during a radio interview as he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., continued to jockey over the scope of the legislation. Democrats are insisting that it include hundreds of billions of dollars in additional aid to states and localities to make up for lost tax revenue during the pandemic.
"Well, look, there's no question that all governors regardless of party would like to have more money, and I'm open to discussing that," McConnell said on Fox News Radio's The Brian Kilmeade Show. "But what [Pelosi is] ignoring is the second pandemic, which is going to be lawsuits against doctors, nurses, hospitals and brave business people."
McConnell suggested this week that any legislation that provides state and local aid should also include some sort of "liability shield" that would prevent businesses from being sued by customers and perhaps employees who contract the coronavirus, an idea that has been under consideration at the White House.
"I mean, this is the best way to protect the brave people who have been taking care of covid-19 patients, and it will take a good deal of bravery to open up their business," McConnell said.
Utah lawmakers have moved to protect businesses from being sued if a customer or employee is exposed to the coronavirus after reopening, with supporters like Republican Rep. Norm Thurston saying establishments need to be rewarded for being willing to open their doors again.
Skeptics like Utah state Rep. Brian King, a Democrat, called the legislation a "get out of liability free card."
"If a business wants to get open and make some money, that means they have to be responsible for the safety of both their employees and the public," King said Wednesday. "They don't get it both ways. They don't get to both make money and be insulated from their negligent decision-making."
AID PRIORITIES
Congressional leaders staked out priorities Wednesday for the next round of aid even as key senators joined their House colleagues in sounding alarms over the health risks of reopening the U.S. Capitol.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., urged McConnell to reconsider, saying there is "no way" to bring 100 senators plus staff members to the Capitol complex without "increased risk."
The House canceled its scheduled return after lawmakers revolted and the Capitol physician warned of the health risks for the 430 lawmakers and their staff.
McConnell said Wednesday that the Senate will not "sit on the sidelines."
Pelosi said the federal aid could come in separate installments for state, local and municipal governments as reimbursement of costs of handling the health crisis as the economy shuts down.
Meanwhile, Pelosi named six Democratic lawmakers to join House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn on a new bipartisan committee that will track the nearly $3 trillion in coronavirus aid.
The new panel will add another layer of oversight as Trump's administration carries out the largest economic rescue in U.S. history.
It was not clear Wednesday whether Republicans will join the panel. GOP lawmakers unanimously opposed its creation. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy's office blasted it as "impeachment 2.0."
Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer said the Senate should focus on congressional oversight of the federal coronavirus response.
Democrats proposed a new effort Wednesday to federalize the nation's medical supply chain. Schumer said resources will be needed as the country ramps up testing and contract tracing in the months ahead.
U.N. WARNING
Nearly half of the world's workforce is at risk of losing their incomes as the pandemic continues to disrupt lives and economies around the globe, a U.N. agency warned.
The Geneva-based International Labor Organization estimated that workers in informal economies account for nearly half of the global workforce, or 1.6 billion people. Those people, already among the most vulnerable in labor markets, now "stand in immediate danger of having their livelihoods destroyed," it said in a statement.
"The first month of the crisis is estimated to have resulted in a drop of 60 percent in the income of informal workers globally," according to the organization. "This translates into a drop of 81 percent in Africa and the Americas, 21.6 percent in Asia and the Pacific, and 70 percent in Europe and Central Asia."
In other news, China scheduled its big legislative meetings for late May. The "Two Sessions" meetings had been postponed at the height of the outbreak.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned that holding the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 will be "impossible" if the pandemic is not contained. Originally scheduled to take place this summer, the Olympic Games have been postponed until July 2021.
Several top government officials have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau, including Prime Minister Nuno Gomes Nabiam, the Health Ministry confirmed Wednesday.
India will permit workers, students and tourists stuck across the country to return to their homes after five weeks of nationwide lockdown, although national restrictions remain in place, the government said Wednesday.
In Europe, Britain raised its death toll to more than 26,000 after adding more than 3,800 nursing-home deaths that were previously not included.
With the crisis easing in nations such as Italy, France and Spain, European governments are making adjustments in their transportation networks to try to get their economies running again without setting off a second wave of infections.
In Italy, Milan is putting red stickers on the floor to tell bus passengers how far apart to stand. The Dutch are putting on longer, roomier trains. Berlin and many other cities are opening up more lanes to bicyclists. And in Britain, bus passengers are using the middle or rear doors to reduce the risk to the driver.
Information for this article was contributed by Anne Gearan, Christopher Rowland, Laurie McGinley, John Wagner, Tony Romm, Mark Berman, Siobhan O'Grady, Miriam Berger, Lateshia Beachum, Joanna Slater and Niha Masih of The Washington Post; and by Kevin Freking, Jill Colvin, Darlene Superville, Zeke Miller, Lisa Mascaro, Matthew Daly, Mary Clare Jalonick, Brady McCombs, Charles Odum, David Lieb, Sean Murphy, Gary Robertson, Emily Wagster, Lindsay Whitehurst, Ryan Foley, Paul Weber, Michelle L. Price, Andrew Taylor, Kimberlee Kruesi, Martin Crutsinger, Marilynn Marchione and Pat Eaton-Robb of The Associated Press.
A Section on 04/30/2020