“America will again and soon be open for business … we cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself,” President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday (Mar 23) even as directives were earlier issued to halt unnecessary travel to slow the spread of COVID-19.

He said it was possible to resume economic activity in states with relatively low rates of infection, citing Nebraska, Idaho and Iowa as examples, while continuing to work on others like New York that are badly hit by the virus.