Wednesday, 20 Nov 2024

Trump says he will NOT put country in lockdown if second wave of coronavirus strikes – The Sun

DONALD Trump has said that he will not put the United States into lockdown again if there is a second wave of coronavirus.

The president made the comments during a tour of Michigan's Ford manufacturing plant on Thursday.

When asked if he was concerned about a potential second wave of the virus, Trump told reporters: "People say that’s a very distinct possibility. It's standard. And we're going to put out the fires.

"We're not going to close the country. We’re going to put out the fires.

“Whether it’s an ember or a flame, we’re going to put it out. But we’re not closing our country."

Just hours after the president made the comments, he announced the country will go into three days of mourning for the coronavirus victims.

Trump said that American flags on all federal buildings and national monuments will be lowered to half-staff over the next three days.

He wrote: "I will be lowering the flags on all Federal Buildings and National Monuments to half-staff over the next three days in memory of the Americans we have lost to the CoronaVirus…."

The country has witnessed at least 96,295 fatalities to the novel virus, with 1,620,456 Americans currently infected.

However, the coronavirus death toll has not encouraged the president to wear a face mask.

While at the Ford factory on Thursday, Trump tried on a face shield and brought his own mask with the presidential seal — but he refused to wear it.

Before he arrived at the Michigan plant, Attorney General Dana Nessel asked Trump to abide by Governor Whitmer and Ford's policy on face coverings in an open letter.

But Trump appeared to ignore their pleas after he touched down at Detroit International Airport this afternoon and headed over to the Ford Rawsonville Components Plant in Ypsilanti.

Nessel has since blasted the president as a "petulant child" for refusing to wear one and declared he's no longer welcome in Michigan.

Upon arrival, he participated in roundtable with African American leaders at the Ford factory before  briefly posing with a protective face shield that was handed to him during the tour.

Trump was pictured admiring the personal protective equipment being produced there and posed for the cameras briefly wearing a robust face shield.

"I didn't want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it," Trump said before showing off his own fabric face covering, which he'd reportedly removed for the duration of the tour.

"It was very nice. It looked very nice. They said [it was] not necessary."

Channel 7 reporter Bill Ritter shared a photo of the president wearing his POTUS mask during a private viewing of cars on Twitter after the company chairman Bill Ford reportedly encouraged him to do so.

Ford told CNN wearing a mask is "up to him" in relation to Trump's refusal to wear one.

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