Around this time last year on March 25, then-President Donald Trump had hoped to re-open society from COVID lockdowns in time to celebrate Easter.
Easter fell on April 12 in 2020.
The BBC reported at the time, “US President Donald Trump has said he hopes the US will shake off coronavirus by Easter, even as New York’s governor sounded the alarm that the illness is spreading faster than ‘a bullet train.'”
Trump wants to reopen the economy at Easter to have "packed churches". 2020 https://t.co/oya3FloWGV pic.twitter.com/L4yCxEETL7
— CoinnewsBest (@CoinnewsB) March 25, 2020
Trump Was Eager For Society To Reopen Before Easter In 2020
“The president told a White House news briefing reopening the US early next month would be ‘a beautiful timeline,” the report added.
Trump said, “We’re going to be opening relatively soon… I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter.”
He added in a later interview, “Easter is a very special day for me… and you’ll have packed churches all over our country.”
Obviously that didn’t happen.
As we approach the Holiest day of the year for Christians, Easter 2021, the development, availability, and distribution of multiple vaccines has coincided with restrictions in different areas gradually loosening, though the country is still not entirely out of the woods yet.
Political Economy with James Pethokoukis: Alex Brill: US spending and tax policy after the COVID recession https://t.co/8wOlPhgqxP
— Ricochet (@Ricochet) March 24, 2021
The Concerns Trump Had About Not Reopening Sooner Did Manifest
But the damage done by the lockdowns could loom for some time to come.
Back in late March 2020, what were some of President Trump’s concerns with the lockdowns?
In the same BBC story, Trump was cited as being concerned that prolonged lockdowns could cause “a massive recession or depression.”
“You’re going to lose people,” Trump added. “You’re going to have suicides by the thousands. You’re going to have all sorts of things happen. You’re going to have instability.”
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities noted in a study that was originally published in July 2020, “Joblessness remains high and millions report that their households did not get enough to eat or are not caught up on rent payments.”
“The impacts of the pandemic and the economic fallout have been widespread, but are particularly prevalent among Black, Latino, Indigenous, and immigrant households,” the organization noted.
As COVID-19 crisis raises risk of suicide and mental illness, Americans deserve more help – Roll Call https://t.co/FhdR3U7Xs3 pic.twitter.com/6F6EHE8g53
— Counseling&Recovery (@CRSOKtulsa) August 14, 2020
As for the suicide rise, Roll Call reported in August 20, “The nation’s suicide rate reached historic highs prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, with rates at the highest levels since World War II.”
“Economic and social pressures this year have heightened the risks, worrying experts, health officials and lawmakers,” Roll Call also noted at the time.
Many mocked Trump for being eager to reopen, and many still view concerns about the economy and mental health as trivial in comparison to the reported death toll of half a million Americans.
But the lockdowns have done damage that some might consider more harmful than COVID itself, in the long run.
Many no doubt remember “15 days to slow the spread.”
We are on the verge of Easter 2021 now, a year later.
Is there any end in sight?
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