Dr. Oz on whether Trump's goal of reopening economy by Easter is realistic

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Dr. Oz: How good testing data will get the country back to work

Dr. Mehmet Oz discusses how the good information we're gaining from testing could get the country back to work sooner than we thought

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Dr. Mehmet Oz said on Wednesday that scaling back restrictions on the coronavirus shutdown could a viable idea in certain parts of the country if increased testing is conducted beforehand.

"Maybe the country goes back to work at the pace that it is ready to go back to work. So in New York, where we’re all based, which has been the epicenter of this COVID-19 virus in this — it’s delayed until we really figure out exactly who's got it and we make sure our hospitals are able to keep up if there was a recurrence of the epidemic. But in other parts of the country, they’re able to open more readily," Oz told “Fox & Friends."

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“With testing, we know who exactly is at risk. That’s how South Korea got up and running so quickly,” the doctor added.

Oz said that doing the necessary amount of testing will give the country a much better idea about where the problem is and whether the economy can begin to restart.

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Oz’s comments came after Trump said Tuesday during a Fox News virtual town hall that he wants th e country’s economy reopened by Easter amid questions over how long people should stay home and businesses should remain closed to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Speaking from the Rose Garden alongside others on his coronavirus taskforce, Trump said he "would love to have the country opened up and just ready to go by Easter." The holiday this year lands on April 12.

Trump argued he doesn’t want “to turn the country off” and see a continued economic downfall from the pandemic. He also said he worries the U.S. will see "suicides by the thousands" if coronavirus devastates the economy.

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"We lose thousands and thousands of people a year to the flu. We don't turn the country off,” Trump said during the interview.

Trump added: “We lose much more than that to automobile accidents. We don't call up the automobile companies and say stop making cars. We have to get back to work.”