
At a White House briefing on Thursday afternoon, Mr Trump said: "They have to go back to work, our country has to go back, our country is based on that and I think it's going to happen pretty quickly.
He added: "A lot of people misinterpret when I say go back, they're going to be practising as much as you can social distancing, and washing your hands and not shaking hands and all of the things we talked about."
Mr Trump wrote of a "long battle ahead" and said "robust" testing protocols might allow some counties to lift their safeguards against the coronavirus.



He said the "new guidelines" will create low, medium and high risk zones that will allow the government to advise on "maintaining, increasing, or relaxing social distancing and other mitigation measures they have put in place".
But the guidelines were voluntary and did not amount to a national order. Mr Trump has set a goal of Easter Sunday, 12 April, for reopening the country.
But the US Constitution makes clear states have the power for maintaining public order and safety, which scholars say means it is the responsibility of governors to decide when virus-related restrictions get lifted.
Canada has condemned a US proposal to deploy troops along their joint border to help fight the spread of coronavirus, with the deputy prime minister saying it would be an "entirely unnecessary step which we would view as damaging to our relationship"
A supermarket in Pennsylvania said it had to destroy more than $35,000 worth of food after a woman intentionally coughed all over it in a coronavirus prank. The local prosecutor said it would decide whether or not to press charges once the suspect had been tested for the illness.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, coyotes are being seen roaming the empty streets of the California city, where residents have withdrawn behind closed doors to limit the spread of the virus