President Trump on Monday released a new set of guidelines for Americans to follow — titled “15 Days To Slow The Spread” — which includes a call for people to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people for the next 15 days.
The guidelines also advise avoiding “eating or drinking in bars, restaurants, and food courts,” saying diners should “use drive through, pickup, and delivery options.” More, the guidelines say people should avoid shopping trips, and even cut back on social visits.
“Each and every one of us has a critical role to play in stopping the spread,” Trump said in a press conference at the White House briefing room.
Take a look at the guidelines here.
Trump also predicted that Americans might be in for a lengthy virus season. “People are talking about July, August, something like that,” Trump said.
The guidelines say Americans should avoid gathering in groups of more than 10 and try not to travel. The guidelines also say that areas that have seen community spread should close bars, restaurants, and other public places, but the federal government is not advocating that move now.
In addition, the guidelines call on governors in states with “evidence of community transmission” to close schools in the affected areas. And the guidelines ask those states to address childcare issues as well as nutritional needs of children.
“We would much rather be ahead of the curve than behind it and that’s where we are,” Trump said. “Therefore, my administration is recommending that all Americans including the young and healthy work to engage in schooling from home when possible, avoid a gathering in groups of more than ten people, avoid discretionary travel, and avoid eating and drinking in bars, restaurants, and public food courts.”
Trump urged Americans to band together to battle the spread of the virus.
“If everyone makes this change are these critical changes and sacrifices now, we will rally together as one nation and we will defeat the virus and we are going to have a big celebration altogether. We can turn the corner and turn it quickly, a lot of progress has been made,” he said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the new coronavirus guidelines are not an overreaction.
“It will always seem that the best way to address it would be to be doing something that looks like it might be an overreaction. It isn’t an overreaction. It’s a reaction we feel is commensurate which is actually going on in reality,” he said at the White House press conference.
Trump also said that despite reports, there are no plans to call for a nationwide quarantine or curfew.
“At this point, not nationwide, but there are some — you know, some places in our nation that are not very affected at all but we may — we may look at certain areas,” Trump said of a lockdown.
Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Monday that the U.S. was “at a critical inflection point.”
“We have a choice to make: Do we want to really lean into social distancing and mitigation strategies and flatten the curve or do we just want to keep going on with business as usual and end up being Italy?” Adams said on CNN.