CDC Director Robert R. Redfield speaks during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House on April 22, 2020, in Washington, DC.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released detailed guidance for reopening schools, mass transit and non-essential businesses that had been shut down in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the United States.
The 60-page document, posted on the website without a formal announcement, comes weeks after some states announced that they would lift stay-at-home orders and begin reopening parts of their economies. It also comes as the CDC has remained largely quiet on the pandemic. Agency officials haven’t held a coronavirus-related briefing in more than two months.
The plan by the CDC outlines a “three-phased approach” for reducing social distancing measures and proposes the use of six “gating” indicators to assess when to move through another phase. The gating indicators include decreases in newly reported Covid-19 cases and emergency room visits as well as a “robust” testing program.
“While some communities will progress sequentially through the reopening phases, there is the possibility of recrudescence in some areas,” the CDC wrote in its guidance. “Given the potential for a rebound in the number of cases or level of community transmission, a low threshold for reinstating more stringent mitigation standards will be essential.”
Last month, President Donald Trump unveiled an 18-page plan for “Opening Up America Again.” Like the CDC’s, the White House plan lays out three “phases” aimed at guiding parts of the country to move incrementally toward loosening restrictions on businesses and individuals.
Read the CDC’s guidelines below:
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
