The American economy can begin to reopen on May 1, according to the Center for Disease Control and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
In a secret coronavirus recovery plan first obtained by the Washington Post, the CDC and FEMA outline the steps that America will take to reopen and rebuild the U.S. economy.
“Coming out of mitigation in a controlled way, with robust monitoring systems in place to contain new cases and outbreaks will be critical to navigating the next phase of this pandemic,” the document explains. “Leaders at all levels will need to prepare communities for occasionally returning to stricter mitigation measures for brief periods as needed to continue containing the disease.”
The document outlines plans to implement a “staged re-opening,” that will begin on May 1.
The first priority will be to “reopen community settings where children are cared for, including K-12 schools, daycares, and locally attended summer camps, to allow the workforce to return to work.”
The document stresses that, while other businesses may not be far behind, dates are still up in the air: “Other community settings will follow with careful monitoring for increased transmission that exceeds the public health and health care systems.”
However, the plan also cautions Americans to be realistic: “Some level of mitigation will be needed until vaccines or broad community immunity is achieved for recovering communities.”
