President Donald Trump did not consult every member of the Coronavirus task force before sending a letter about potentially relaxing social distancing measures.
CNN’s Jim Acosta reported on Thursday that President Trump sent a letter to governors about easing restrictions without showing the letter to the entire group of experts.
“Not all Coronavirus task force members had seen Trump’s letter to the nation’s governors detailing plans for possibly relaxing social distancing guidelines before the letter was released, we are told,” Acosta said.
The CNN Chief White House Correspondent made the claim on Twitter.
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Not all Coronavirus task force members had seen Trump’s letter to the nation’s governors detailing plans for possibly relaxing social distancing guidelines before the letter was released, we are told.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) March 26, 2020
Trump sent a letter to state governors suggesting that social distancing guidelines could be relaxed in some parts of the country. A draft was not shown to the whole pandemic task force.
“My Administration is working to publish new guidelines for State and local policymakers to use in making decisions about maintaining, increasing, or relaxing social distancing and other mitigation measures they have put in place,” the letter said.
“This is what we envision: Our expanded testing capabilities will quickly enable us to publish criteria, developed in close coordination with the Nation’s public health officials and scientists, to help classify counties with respect to continued risks posed by the virus,” the administration wrote.
“This will incorporate robust surveillance testing, which allows us to monitor the spread of the virus throughout the country. Under these data-driven criteria, we will suggest guidelines categorizing counties as high-risk, medium-risk, or low-risk.”
President Trump has repeatedly said he wants to ‘reopen’ the economy by Easter. Medical experts have warned that this is unrealistic and could cause a spike in infections and deaths.
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Darragh Roche is a journalist covering U.S. politics and media
