President Donald Trump is not considering a national lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany confirmed Tuesday.
Trump and Republicans have long pushed back on the idea of a mandatory national quarantine, citing the federal government’s lack of authority to do so under the Constitution. Trump called on state governors to institute distancing measures tailored to their own states this spring, resulting in widespread protests against governors who took a more severe route.
“The president is not considering a national lockdown,” says Kayleigh McEnany.
— Chris Megerian (@ChrisMegerian) August 4, 2020
Some experts say the lifting of current distancing measures across the country relies largely on the production of a successful coronavirus vaccine. (RELATED: Fauci Says China Not A Threat To US Coronavirus Vaccine Research)
White House Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Anthony Fauci has said he is optimistic that a vaccine will be developed before 2021. The Trump administration’s ‘Operation Warp Speed’ project is aimed at partnering the public and private sectors to develop a vaccine or therapeutics to combat COVID-19.
Dr. Amesh Adalja of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security told the Daily Caller it may be more than a year before life returns to what Americans thought of as normal in 2019, however. (RELATED: ‘Of Course Not’: Fauci Says He Would Not Attend Trump Rally Over Coronavirus Fears)
Adalja said the development of a vaccine is one part of the solution, but that vaccine must then be mass-produced, a process which he says could take until 2022.
McEnany’s statement came minutes after a tweet from Trump encouraging voters in Florida to register for mail-in ballots, a practice he has criticized elsewhere in the country.
Whether you call it Vote by Mail or Absentee Voting, in Florida the election system is Safe and Secure, Tried and True. Florida’s Voting system has been cleaned up (we defeated Democrats attempts at change), so in Florida I encourage all to request a Ballot & Vote by Mail! #MAGA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 4, 2020
“Whether you call it Vote by Mail or Absentee Voting, in Florida the election system is Safe and Secure, Tried and True. Florida’s Voting system has been cleaned up (we defeated Democrats attempts at change), so in Florida I encourage all to request a Ballot & Vote by Mail!” Trump wrote.