President Donald Trump announced Thursday plans to release criteria for the coronavirus threat by county.
The president explained his plan in a letter to America’s governors, a copy of which was shared with reporters.
“This is what we envision: Our expanded testing capabilities will quickly enable us to publish criteria, developed in close coordination with the Nation’s public health officials and scientists to help classify counties with respect to continued risks posed by the virus,” Trump wrote.
Each county would get a federal category of “high-risk,” “medium risk” and “low risk,” Trump wrote, using data-driven criteria that would be used to develop further government guidelines.
The new plan suggests that the president is eager to loosen the restrictions on certain areas of the country to allow some Americans to return to normal life.
The president thanked Americans for responding to the initial strict guidelines released on March 16, 2020, to fight the spread of the coronavirus.
“I want to thank each of you, along with your frontline responders and essential workers, for stepping up to help America confront this unprecedented global pandemic,” Trump wrote.
New guidelines, he explained, would be released by his administration to inform state and local governments about the risks and guidelines they should expect especially after collecting weeks of data about the virus.
“This new information will drive the next phase in our war against this invisible enemy,” he wrote.