Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a news conference in the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, April 23, 2020.
Michael Reynolds | EPA | Bloomberg via Getty Images
Sixteen states have released “formal reopening plans” to lift coronavirus restrictions, Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday, adding that the country has shown “promising signs of progress” on driving down the spread of Covid-19
“At the present moment, 16 states have released formal reopening plans,” Pence said at a news briefing. “States are beginning to make those plans and we’re encouraged to see so many states embracing the phased approach to reopening their economies that’s contemplated in our guidelines for opening up America again.”
Missouri, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Idaho have all released plans to lift restrictions meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Pence said. The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for the complete list of states.
Several so-called hot spots that were hit particularly hard, including the New York-metro area, New Jersey and Detroit “all appear to be past their peak,” Pence said. He added that new hospitalizations are declining across the country.
“Our only conclusion is that we’re getting there, America,” he said. “We are making meaningful progress.”
However, lifting restrictions that have so-far beaten back the spread of the virus, according to Pence, could lead to a devastating resurgence of infections, some state and local officials have cautioned. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned earlier Thursday that lifting restrictions before the necessary infrastructure is in place could “backfire” and “set us back by months.”
Widespread testing and tracing of people who come into contact with infected individuals will be crucial to easing restrictions, de Blasio said, and reopening the city, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak. Pence said Thursday that the country has performed more than 4.9 million tests for Covid-19, which is less than 2% of the country’s population.
The administration is now also calling on states to resume elective surgeries, which were largely suspended as health systems sought to boost capacity for an expected surge of Covid-19 patients, Pence announced. He said several states have already unveiled plans to do so, including Arizona and Indiana.
“Given the unique burden on hospitals, we are now encouraging states to restart elective surgeries wherever possible, either statewide or on a county-by-county basis,” he said. We recognize the role elective surgeries play in finances for local hospitals and we’ll be working with states to enable that.”
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