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The United States remains to be the worst-hit country in the time of the new coronavirus with a little over a million confirmed cases and over 58,000 deaths. But as the Trump administration pushes for a reopening, President Donald Trump urges the state governors to consider reopening the schools.
The pandemic has forced the United States along with many other countries that are affected to undergo lockdowns. Many people are laid off or are working remotely due to the orders to stay at home, and schools have resorted to suspending or continuing the school year through the online platforms. During a teleconference call with the state governors Monday, Trump urged the state governors to already consider opening the schools again. The administration is keen on reopening the country and restarting the economy as it suffered throughout this time.
“Some of you might start thinking about school openings because a lot of people are wanting to have school openings. It’s not a big subject, young children have done very well in this disaster that we’ve all gone through...So a lot of people are thinking about the school openings. And I think it’s something Mike, they can seriously consider and get going on it,” said Trump.
However, as it is already approaching May, it is unlikely that the students will be able to finish the rest of the school year given the increasing number of cases. 43 states including Washington DC have already ordered schools not to reopen this school year. Six states such as Idaho, California, Kentucky, Maine, Tennessee, and South Dakota only advised that local officials support students through distance learning. As for the state of Montana, school districts are given the option to start in-classroom learning as early as May 7th.
Meanwhile, Trump signed an Executive Order under the Defense Production Act to get meat processing plants to stay open despite the pandemic. “We’re going to sign an Executive Order today, I believe, and that’ll solve any liability problems,” said the president during his meeting with Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
This executive order was signed following reports of companies like Tyson Foods considering to keep only 20 percent of their facilities open. A huge majority of food processing plants could have potentially shut down, resulting in reduced processing capacity by 80 percent. With the order, these meat processing plants are now an integral part of the United States’ infrastructure.
