Experts warn anticipated death toll rise to far over the projected 60,000 if US states open now

Many experts involved in the coronavirus task force are warning state governors to reconsider ending stay-in-place orders too soon. They project a significant increase in deaths if states are reopened. 

According to Truthout, current projections on the virus predict around 60,000 Americans may die from COVID-19 by August. Those numbers were revised down from an earlier projection of 100,000 to 240,000 potential deaths in the country, with the newer numbers being praised by the president. 

But this number changes if the country “reopens” before it is ready. President Donald Trump is pushing for states to end their stay-in-place orders in order to restart the economy but many are speaking out against this move. 

“Unless we get the virus under control, the real recovery economically is not going to happen,” says Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He goes on to say that “even if social distancing standards were relaxed, it wouldn’t restore the health of the economy as some protesters have implied it would.”

According to The New York Times author Paul Krugman, serious economists know what they don’t know —they recognize and respect experts from other disciplines. A survey of economists found almost unanimous support for “tolerating a very large contraction in economic activity until the spread of infections has dropped significantly.” This push to reopen is coming not from economists but from cranks and cronies.

Some think Trump has other motives to this quick and unsteady “reopen” like his political agenda.