Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


At Lincoln Memorial, Trump to Take Public's Pandemic Queries

Associated Press

   WASHINGTON - Anxious for an economic recovery, President Donald Trump
   prepared to field Americans' questions about decisions by some states
   to allow nonessential businesses to reopen while other states are on
   virtual lockdown due to the coronavirus.

   After more than a month of being cooped up at the White House, Trump
   returned from a weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat in
   Maryland and planned to participate in a "virtual" town hall, hosted
   Sunday night by Fox News Channel, from inside the Lincoln Memorial.

   "Hopefully our Country will soon mend," Trump tweeted. Federal
   guidelines that encouraged people to stay at home and practice social
   distancing expired late last week.

   Debate continued over moves by governors to start reopening state
   economies that tanked after shopping malls, salons and other
   nonessential businesses were ordered closed in attempt to slow a virus
   that has killed more than 66,000 Americans, according to a tally of
   reported deaths by Johns Hopkins University.

   The U.S. economy has suffered, shrinking at a 4.8% annual rate from
   January through March, the government estimated last week. It was the
   sharpest quarterly drop since the 2008 financial crisis.

   Roughly 30.3 million people have filed for unemployment aid in the six
   weeks since the outbreak forced employers to shut down and slash their
   workforces. It was the worst string of layoffs on record.

.