CDC, FEMA have joint plan to battle coronavirus, reopen country, report

Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reportedly drafted a plan on how to improve efforts to combat the coronavirus and incrementally reopen the country. 

The plan, obtained by The Washington Post, is reportedly part of a larger White House effort to get Americans out of their homes and restart businesses shuttered by the pandemic.

President Trump on Tuesday announced the names of dozens of people – including economists, top executives and thought leaders – who will be on his task force to restart the economy. 

The joint CDC-FEMA plan provides guidance to state and local governments on easing health-safety mandates and getting their economies up and running again. 

The plan also calls for the CDC to establish a Covid-19 Response Corps to help state and local health departments with critical public health efforts, including trying to find people who had contact with someone infected with the coronavirus, according to The Post.

The agencies have worked on the strategy for at least the past week, and the draft plan has been reviewed by the White House coronavirus task force, which is led by Vice President Mike Pence and includes top U.S. public health officials. 

The Post reports that it obtained two parts of an eight-part plan and that some of its reporting was based on a source familiar with the complete plan.