As large swaths of the American economy shut down and workers stay home, President Donald Trump hopes that life can return to normal “very soon.”
During a press conference on Thursday, Trump was asked if he could give an estimated timeline on when Americans could go back to work and resume their normal day to day lives.
“I hope very soon. We’ll see,” Trump said, adding, “This is uncharted territory, as you know.”
He continued:
“We think we have ideas. It doesn’t help to say what the ideas are. I hope very soon. We’ve pulled together as a nation. People, for the most part, are doing what they’re supposed to be doing.”
Watch his comments below:
He continued to note the number of countries that have reported cases of the coronavirus and added, “It’s very uncharted territory.”
Trump then appeared to slam Chinese officials, as he seemingly referred to several reports that indicated that the country’s authoritarian government blocked individuals from raising alarms about the virus.
“It could’ve been stopped pretty easily if we had known, if everybody had known about it, a number of months before people started reading about it. […] It could have been stopped it in its tracks. Unfortunately, they didn’t decide to make it public. But, the whole world is suffering because of it.”
China’s highest court rebuked officials for reportedly censuring doctors and hiding information in the earlier stages of the outbreak. It said that had the Chinese government been more transparent about the risk of the virus, it could have significantly reduced the spread of the virus.
“If society had at the time believed those ‘rumors,’ and wore masks, used disinfectant and avoided going to the wildlife market as if there were a SARS outbreak, perhaps it would’ve meant we could better control the coronavirus today.”
Trump’s comments come just days after he said the outbreak of the virus could continue into August.
Additionally, a new report from Imperial College London said that restrictions on public life may need to continue for up to 18-months — the estimated time for how long it could take for a coronavirus vaccine to be produced.