Fauci Says Stay-At-Home Policy May Be Relaxed As Soon As Next Month With ‘Rolling Re-Entry’ To Work

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said on Sunday that some parts of the country could start relaxing stay-at-home policies caused by the coronavirus pandemic as early as next month. 

“I think it could probably start at least in some ways maybe next month,” Fauci told CNN on Sunday. “We are hoping by the end of the month we can look around and say, ‘Ok, is there any element here that we can safely and cautiously start pulling back on.’ If so, do it. If not, then just continue to hunker down.”

President Donald Trump suggested something similar on Friday when he said the country could begin to reopen on May 1. 

“People want to get back to work. … We are setting up a council of some of the most distinguished leaders in virtually every field, including politics, business and medical. And we’ll be making that decision fairly soon,” Trump said on Fox News on Saturday. 

Fauci is calling for a “rolling reentry” to prevent another spike in coronavirus cases in the United States. 

“It is not going to be a light switch that we say, ‘Ok, it is now June, July, or whatever, click, the light switch goes back on,’” Fauci told CNN. “It’s going to be depending where you are in the country, the nature of the outbreak that you already experienced, and the threat of an outbreak that you may not have experienced.”

“If you just say, ‘Ok, it’s whatever, May 1, click,’ turn the switch on, obviously, if you do it in an all-or-none way, there’s an extraordinary risk of there being a rebound,” the doctor added.

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