President Trump and national COVID-19 Team unveil guidelines for reopening America
Governors empowered to tailor a phased approach to reopening their states
by LibbyMT.com
April 16, 2020
On Thursday, April 16th, President Trump issued new guidelines to enable individual states to reopen after the shut-down due to the coronavirus. The reopening is to be done in phases, using a deliberate data-driven approach. Under the guidelines, states will reopen one step at a time rather than all at once. The guidelines empower Governors to tailor the phased reopening to address the situation in their own state so they can reopen county-by-county or statewide.
The guidelines set benchmarks on new cases, testing, and hospital resources for states to meet to proceed toward a phased reopening. Criteria include a downward trajectory in cases presenting coronavirus-like symptoms or a downward trajectory in positive tests. The criteria also include monitoring hospitals to make sure they have the resources to treat all patients without crisis care, and a testing program for healthcare workers. The guidelines allow for healthy people to return to work while still safeguarding seniors and vulnerable populations. The "30 Days to Stop the Spread" is generally still in place, but the specifics depends on what each particular governor wants to do in their state.
The plan calls for a staged opening that is based on data monitoring. Some states may be able to open up sooner than others. 30 percent of the counties in the nation have reported no new COVID-19 cases in the last seven days. States are being encouraged to harmonize their regional efforts in reopening. The guidelines are focused on mitigating the risks of the virus reemerging.
Stages don’t get to start any of the phases until they pass certain "Gating" criteria. Some states are already at the thresholds to start Phase I almost immediately. Other states with more incidents of the virus still appearing will need to wait until their incident numbers start declining before they can start the phases. Below is a brief highlight of the phases.
"Phase One" is for areas of the country who have reached, or are already at a point where they satisfy the criteria laid out by the White House. It calls for social distancing to remain in place, avoiding gathering of more than 10 people, and avoiding any unnecessary travel. Vulnerable people should continue to self-isolate. Anyone who is sick should stay home and avoid others until well. Elective surgeries could resume on an out-patient basis. Tele-work still encouraged. Some businesses could reopen if they can maintain social distancing. As long as numbers show COVID-19 cases continue to decline, the area could then move on to Phase II. Each state’s Governor would decide on the timeline.
"Phase Two" still calls for people to practice social distancing and vulnerable people to self-isolate. Larger crowds up to 50 people can gather. Non-essential travel can start to resume. Common areas of businesses continue to remain closed or maintain physical distancing. Special accommodations continue for vulnerable populations. Schools, daycares and camps can reopen. Still no visitors allowed to senior living facilities and hospitals. Elective surgeries can continue on an out-patient and in-patient basis.
"Phase Three" involves returning to the New Normal. Continuing good hygiene. Vulnerable populations should continue physical distancing in their social interaction practices. Businesses can reopen as long as they can provide physical distancing capabilities. Resuming unrestricted employee staffing at worksites. Visitors can return to senior centers and hospitals. Large venues can reopen under limited physical distancing protocols. Things like concerts or sporting events need to be done in a way that allow for social distancing and having a safety net to prevent resurgence of the virus. Possible measures include "made for TV" sporting events with no spectators or allowing some spectators with spacing distance between seats. Continued surveillance of asymptomatic people to protect vulnerable populations.
Each phase has monitoring of the data to make sure that none of the reopening steps have resulted in a rebound of the virus returning. States must be able to immediately respond to isolate any pockets of virus returning. Health officials said this is "uncharted territory." There may be some setbacks where things happen and measures may need to be pulled back should the virus reemerge in places or under certain situations. As therapeutics improve, and vaccines become available, the picture could become even brighter. Everything is being done with the health and safety of the American public in mind.
In theory, there is a presumed unspoken Phase Four in which things have resumed to pretty much as before, but with people having learned from this experience and being better about their hygiene practices such as washing hands often, staying home when sick, covering sneezes and coughs, better cleanliness of frequently touched surfaces, taking care to not expose others to potentially contagious diseases and sharing germs, etc. Some people would even like to see the practice of shaking hands as a social greeting go away.
As the process moves along into fall and usual flu season, measures will be put into place to monitor the situation to screen for early detection of flu and possible flare ups of COVID-19 to catch it early and also implement contact tracing to let people know they might have been exposed to disease while they are still asymptomatic so they can take measures to self-isolate before exposing others. Some of these early detection screenings might occur in clinic situations where people come in for medical care visits for routine care or for non-flu reasons. In the long run, health officials will be focusing on early case recognition, isolation, and contact tracing of any possible new incidents.
Watch for Governors to start announcing their particular reopening plans in the coming days.
Click on this link to read the President’s Guidelines for Opening Up America Again www.whitehouse.gov (April 16, 2020)
Click on this link for a YouTube video talking about Opening up America Again April 16, 2020
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