Surgeon general: Most of the U.S. won't be able to reopen May 1 as coronavirus crisis continues

Most of the U.S. will be unable to resume normal life on May 1, the end of the White House's 30-day campaign to slow the spread of coronavirus, Surgeon General Jerome Adams told Fox News' Ed Henry Friday.

Why it matters: Adams' stance conflicts with some signals from others in the federal government as to when the economy should functionally reopen. President Trump's aides have been encouraged by data showing fewer deaths than previously projected, and have pushed for a May 1 reboot, Axios' Jonathan Swan reports.

---

What they're saying: "Most of the country will not, to be honest with you, but some will," Adams told Henry on-air. "That's how we'll reopen the country, place by place, bit by bit based on the data."

Earlier this week, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told Politico that the economy could restart "in the next four to eight weeks."

Ed Henry: "So is May 1, the beginning of May as you just referred to, as the president has referred to, is that a realistic timetable to reopen the country?"

Jerome Adams: "Well we're going to be data-driven. I absolutely agree with Dr. Fauci. Now is the time to continue to lean into this, because we know that the more that we participate in social distancing, the flatter the curve is and the quicker we can get to the other side. There are places around the country that have seen consistently low levels and as we ramp up testing and can feel more confident that these places actually can do surveillance and can do public health follow-up, some places will be able to think about opening on May 1st."

The other side: Treasury Secretary Mnuchin told CNBC he believes the U.S. could reopen for business in May.