Trump Wants U.S. 'Open, Raring To Go' By Easter: U.S. Coronavirus

WASHINGTON, DC — As businesses close and millions of Americans have been ordered to stay at home amid the ongoing new coronavirus outbreak, President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would love to see the United States "open and raring to go by Easter." This year, the holiday is April 12.

Trump made the comments during a Fox News town hall, where he again spoke of "reopening" U.S. businesses as a means to jump-start the U.S. economy.

“I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter," he said.

The president added that the country depended on a strong economy.

“It's not built to shut down. Our people are full of vim and vigor and energy. They don’t want to be locked in a house or an apartment or some space,” Trump said during the town hall. “You can destroy a country this way, by closing it down, where it literally goes from being the most prosperous.”

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During the address, Trump repeatedly used the common influenza to justify his comments, arguing the country is not “turned off” because of the thousands of deaths from that disease, The Hill reported.

However, public health experts, including those working on the White House coronavirus task force, have warned the diseases are not analogous and that the coronavirus is significantly more contagious, according to The Hill.

Trump's comments come a day after he said he plans to "reopen" the country and ease guidelines on social distancing, going against the advice of his own health experts.

His comments Monday followed those of his surgeon general, Dr. Jerome Adams, who delivered a chilling message as the United States headed into another week of fighting the virus.

"I want America to understand — this week, it's going to get bad," Adams told NBC, adding that not everyone has been taking the proper precautions.

Trump said he wants to "reopen" the country for business in weeks, not months, and he claimed, without evidence, that continued closures could result in more deaths than the coronavirus pandemic.

"We can't have the cure be worse than the problem," Trump told reporters at a Monday press briefing, echoing a midnight Sunday tweet. "We have to open our country because that causes problems that, in my opinion, could be far bigger problems."

The number of cases in the United States topped 50,000 Tuesday, while the number of dead reached more than 600. A week ago, the death toll was 70.

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