Donald Trump says he will announce guidelines to reopen the economy on Thursday, with the US president claiming the country has passed the peak of new coronavirus cases as the death toll topped 28,000 people.
“The data suggests that nationwide we are past the peak,” Mr Trump said. “These encouraging developments have put us in a very strong position to finalise guidelines for states on reopening the country.”
Mr Trump said some US states could reopen before May 1. His comments came a day after Anthony Fauci, one of the two top scientists on the coronavirus task force, told the Associated Press that it was “overly optimistic” to view early May as a goal for much of the country.