WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump today announced new guidelines for states that have experienced low transmission of the coronavirus. Heritage Foundation President Kay C. James, chairman of the National Coronavirus Recovery Commission, made this statement in response:

We know that good public health policy is good economic policy. The administration is rightly working to restore livelihoods in the midst of catastrophic job losses while also taking care to balance Americans’ health and safety. The Heritage Foundation’s National Coronavirus Recovery Commission is also working quickly to deliver additional recommendations to governments at every level, the private sector, and churches, charities, and other parts of civil society on a pathway to reopen America. I look forward to working with the administration to help move prudently toward getting Americans’ lives back to normal.

The Heritage Foundation announced the formation of the National Coronavirus Recovery Commission on April 6. At its first meeting last Thursday, the commission released a five-phase plan for reopening America. The plan calls for returning to a more normal level of business activity regionally, based on scientific data, as a first step. The commission is currently working on a set of recommendations for policymakers and the American people.

The commission’s next meeting will take place April 20. The commission will provide continual updates on the crisis response and recovery and publish its recommendations on its website.

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