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US President Donald Trump’s administration abandoned guidance by the CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention). It offered more inflexible measures to fight the coronavirus epidemic in the initial months of the outbreak. The 63-page document detailed recommendations from the center for communities that may face a second wave of Covid-19 infections after states across the country begin to lift stay-at-home orders. There are specific instructions for a national reopening strategy in the guidelines that would allow for states facing a resurgence of infections to implement restrictions and safety precautions, as part of an apparent effort to keep the nation’s hospital system within capacity.

Moreover, the White House’s “Opening Up America Again” proposal didn’t include that guidance, rather than allowing state governors and localities to take their own individual approaches to combat the novel virus and reopening when they see fit. The administration’s proposal was released on 17^th April including some portions of the plans. It didn’t provide the specifics many states have called for from the White House to ensure a safe reopening process. The White House reportedly abandoned the guidance late last month, maintaining its own plan that allowed for a loosening of restrictions not offered in the CDC proposal.

Those measures included things such as nonessential travel, which the White House said could resume during Phase Two of its reopening plan after 28 consecutive days of decline. It is noteworthy that the CDC proposal reportedly said all nonessential travel should be avoided until the final reopening phase. The CDC plan still advised caution and said nonessential travel should only resume following 42 consecutive days of decline. The guidelines proposed by the CDC reportedly said, “Travel patterns within and between jurisdictions will impact efforts to reduce community transmission too. Coordination across state and local jurisdictions is critical, especially between jurisdictions with different mitigation needs”. Democratic leadership has since called for the full report to be released by the CDC.