Surgeon General Adams suggests only parts of U.S. will reopen by May 1

Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Friday suggested that only limited parts of the U.S. can fully reopen by May 1, amid coronavirus restrictions in about 84 percent of the country. 

“There are places around the country that have seen consistently low levels. And as we ramp up testing and can feel more confident that these places actually can do surveillance and can do public health follow-up, some places will be able to think about opening on May 1,” Adams told Fox News. “Most of the country will not, to be honest with you, but some will.” 

Adams said officials intend to reopen the country “place by place, bit by bit, based on the data.” 

President Trump had hoped to reopen the country by this Easter Sunday, but as the United States rapidly became the country with the most cases – 473,093 as of Friday – he kept stay-at-home orders and other health-safety measures in place.

Trump along with other U.S. leaders, health experts and economists are trying to figure out how soon they can ease social-distancing measures to get Americans back to work and restart the economy, amid fears of a recession.