All 50 States Are Now Partially Reopened Amid COVID-19 Concerns

As of Wednesday, all 50 states are now partially reopened despite many health officials advising against the loosening of social distancing guidelines amid ongoing COVID-19 concerns.

Connecticut, per CNN, was the final state to start lifting certain restrictions by allowing some businesses to reopen their doors. As of May 19, the CDC was reporting more than 1.5 million confirmed cases of the virus, as well as an estimated 90,340 deaths. And while all 50 states are indeed at least partially “reopened,” what that actually means varies dramatically from region to region. 

Also on Wednesday, the Associated Press said that Republicans were reportedly “recruiting extremely pro-Trump doctors” to push a hasty economy revival approach without taking into account CDC recommendations. Their report cited a plan that was said to have been discussed during a conference call earlier this month with a senior staffer for Trump’s CNP Action-organized reelection campaign, as leaked by the Center for Media and Democracy.

Getting consistently presented science-based info on the virus, including how best to move forward, has proven a hurdle due to a near-constant barrage of confusing and sometimes downright false statements from the White House.

Just this week, for example, Trump falsely denied that the FDA had issued a warning against the use of hydroxychloroquine outside of hospitals or research studies. He also made baseless claims that a study conducted with veterans that found no benefits of using hydroxychloroquine was “phony” and had been done as part of an effort to make him look bad.