No more shutdowns

'YOU CREATE MORE DAMAGE'
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says US ‘can’t shut down the economy again’ if coronavirus has another spike
TREASURY Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Thursday the US should not shut down the economy again if there is another wave of the coronavirus outbreak.

Mnuchin said Americans have "learned that if you shut down the economy, you’re going to create more damage."

3Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Thursday the US can't shut down again, even if there's another wave of coronavirus casesCredit: Getty Images - Getty

He said on CNBC: “Not just economic damage, but there are other areas and we’ve talked about this: medical problems and everything else that get put on hold."

“We can’t shut down the economy again."

Mnuchin said he thinks President Donald Trump made the right call when he urged state governors to ease coronavirus restrictions.

"I think it was very prudent what the president did, but I think we’ve learned a lot.”


3Wine store employees in New York City are seen here with a new shipment of alcohol last monthCredit: Getty Images - Getty

The treasury secretary said that, even if the US sees more coronavirus cases, it won't be necessary to impose tough restrictions now that testing and contact tracing programs are now in place.

A Reuters analysis released this week showed 21 states have seen spikes in coronavirus cases as businesses have started reopening.

On Monday, a committee with the National Bureau of Economic Research determined the US economy entered a recession in February as the coronavirus pandemic hit the country.

The economists said that employment, income, and spending peaked in February and then dropped sharply afterward as the viral outbreak shut down businesses across the country.


3Businesses across the US have been reopening despite the virusCredit: AP:Associated Press

It marked the start of the downturn after nearly 11 full years of economic growth.

“The unprecedented magnitude of the decline in employment and production, and its broad reach across the entire economy, warrants the designation of this episode as a recession, even if it turns out to be briefer than earlier contractions,” the panel said.