America isn't reopening by Easter. But how long should the coronavirus shutdown optimally last?

COVID-19 shutdown in Australia
(Image credit: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

There will be a real human cost if the U.S. tries to return to normalcy too soon after this period of coronavirus paralysis — increased deaths, lots more physical pain and suffering, collapsing medical systems. But there are also very steep social and economic costs to locking down much of the country, and those will mount the longer the shutdowns continue.

President Trump — also fretting over the personal political price of the tanking economy, as CBS News reports below — is pushing for the country to start jumping from isolation to work by Easter, April 12. On Thursday, he proposed reopening in phases.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.