Trump wants churches full on Easter as US coronavirus cases top 50,000
President Donald Trump said he wants “everyone back at work” by Easter as confirmed cases of the new coronavirus surpassed 50,000 in the United States on Tuesday.
“We’re looking at a timeline,” Trump said at a press briefing. “That’s probably 9 days plus another 2.5 weeks so we’re going to look at it. We’ll only do it if it’s good and we’ll do large sections of the country.”
Trump also said he thought of Easter, which is April 12, because it was a “beautiful timeline” and he’d “love to see it come even sooner.”
Trump said in a Fox News interview on Tuesday: “Wouldn’t it be great to have all the churches full. You’ll have packed churches all over our country … I think it’ll be a beautiful time,” according to CNBC.
A White House official told NBC News that Trump views Easter “by which the economy is speeding again,” meaning that lifting restrictions would start before then.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there were at least 25,665 confirmed cases in New York and more than 14,904 in New York City, according to New York Magazine.
There are over 53,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University.
Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said during the press briefing that everyone who traveled from New York City to another state should self-quarantine for 14 days in order to avoid spreading the virus.
