US president Donald Trump has suggested that some states could lift travel restrictions in April, declaring that the US has “passed the peak” of new coronavirus cases.
May 1 had previously been mooted as a potential date to reopen the US, but some states may lift restrictions before then.
At Wednesday’s daily US coronavirus briefing from the White House, the president said he would unveil new reopening guidelines on Thursday following discussions with state governors.
Trump said: "We'll be the comeback kids, all of us. We want to get our country back.
“The data suggests that nationwide, we have passed the peak of new cases. Hopefully that will continue, and we will continue to make great progress”.
Trump shrugged off media concerns of lifting the US lockdown prematurely, warning that there was also “death involved in keeping it closed”.
Trump highlighted the need to reopen the country not only for the mental well-being of Americans who have been forced to remain at home, but also in the interests of the economy after unemployment in the country hit record numbers.
There are almost 640,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States, with over 30,800 having died.
Trump took aim at other countries during his address, accusing them of being dishonest about their Covid-19 mortality rates. The global death toll, including those deceased within the US, was 136,908 as of 05:00 BST on Thursday.
Naming China specifically, Trump asked the media: “Does anybody really believe the numbers of some of these countries?”
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has urged China to show “full transparency” with regards to its Covid-19 intelligence, having accused it of covering up the scale of the outbreak when it first emerged in the city of Wuhan in December. Beijing denies any wrongdoing.
