Trump Tweets Coronavirus Shutdown Will Last Only 15 Days and End on Monday, March 30, 2020

Tweeting last night what many of us have been thinking about Covid-19, that the cure is worse than the disease, US President Donald J Trump tweeted last night that the shutdown will last no more than 15 days. Today the stock market fell another 4%, and the major indices are now at about the levels they were when Trump was elected in 2016. The president has used the stock market as a measure of his success as president.

"WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF," Mr. Trump tweeted in all capital letters just before midnight. "AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!"

Other officials have wanted a shutdown "for months." For example New York governor Cuomo said this morning that the crisis and the social distancing restrictions will last for months. Trump apparently disagrees.

Officials have said that the initial 15-day period for social distancing - limiting close contact between people by banning gatherings, closing schools and offices, encouraging remote work and urging people to maintain a six-foot distance from one another - is vital to slowing the spread of the virus, for which more than 30,000 people in the United States have tested positive. The 15-day period would end Monday, ways the New York Times.

New York cases have risen past 20,000, making it easily the most infected place in the United States. Los Angeles County has, in contrast, about 300 diagnosed cases.

In a press conference, New York Governor Cuomo

"Every executive has to walk and chew gum at the same time. We can't run this country with economy shut down. We have to get the economy up and running."

"Is it smart to have kids at home next to their grandmother? Should you have stratified the risk, that's the public health problem. I think there is a line where those two lines cross. I don't feel it's overkill, I have no second thoughts, I would make the same decisions today."

"I was threatened by one gentleman, there's no way you will be re-elected. This shutdown is hurting so many people. I don't even care about that (my reelection). But at some point, you have to reopen the economy."