US states look at easing coronavirus lockdowns

But health experts fear increased human interaction could spark new wave of cases

Protesters in Atlanta wanted the lockdown to be extended. AFP

More US states are looking to lift coronavirus lockdown restrictions as the national unemployed rate hovers about 16 per cent.

White House officials on US political talk shows gave different views of how the economy would react to the pandemic.

Colorado, Mississippi, Minnesota, Montana and Tennessee will begin to reopen their economies in the next few days.

Georgia, Oklahoma, Alaska and South Carolina were the first wave of states easing restrictions.

Health experts say increased human interaction could spark a new wave of Covid-19 cases, the respiratory disease that has already killed about 55,000 Americans.

The lockdown restrictions resulted in 26.5 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits since mid-March.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Friday that the economy would contract at nearly a 40 per cent annual rate by June.

The CBO forecast that the jobless rate would average above 10 per cent into next year.

The pandemic would probably push the national unemployment rate to 16 per cent this month, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Sunday.

One key ingredient to safety is personal protective equipment. AP

"It's a really grave situation. This is the biggest negative shock that our economy, I think, has ever seen.

"We're going to be looking at an unemployment rate that approaches rates that we saw during the Great Depression.

"I think the next couple of months are going to look terrible. You're going to see numbers as bad as anything we've ever seen.

"We're going to need really big thoughtful policies to put together to make it so that people are optimistic again," Mr Hassett told the ABC.

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin insisted that the US economy would come roaring back.

Mr Mnuchin defended soaring deficit spending as key to reviving the economy, despite the misgivings of Congressional Republicans.

Tattoo parlous in Georgia have been told they can reopen,. Reuters

He said the administration was considering loans to troubled energy companies but insisted there would be no shareholder bailouts.

"I think as we begin to reopen the economy in May and June you're going to see the economy really bounce back in July, August, September," Mr Mnuchin told Fox News.

"And we are putting in an unprecedented amount of fiscal relief into the economy. You're seeing trillions of dollars that are making their way into the economy and I think this is going to have a significant impact."

A woman who identified herself as a registered nurse in a local emergency room counterprotests in front of a demonstration to open up the state from the restrictions in place due to the new coronavirus, organized by the 3% United Patriots group, outside the Governor's Mansion in St. Paul, Minn. AP

People gather in groups many without face covering in Central Park in New York, New York, USA. EPA

Police remove a demonstrator during a protest against the Corona restrictions in Berlin, amid the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. AFP

Firefighters with Anne Arundel County Fire Department put on enhanced PPE prior to treating a potential COVID-19 patient in Glen Burnie, Maryland. AFP

Florence Akiuor (C) of Coalition for grassroots human rights defenders Kenya (CGHRD'S Kenya) explains how to use a mask during their food distribution, a bag contains 2kg of maize flour, 1kg each of sugar and rice, soap, tea, salt and a face mask, to vulnerable families that have lost their income in the menace of the COVID 19 coronavirus in Mathare slum, Nairobi. AFP

A group of protesters attend the 'Reopen Miami-Dade County' vehicle caravan, calling on state and local officials to reopen Florida's economy, in Miami, Florida, USA. EPA

Bufalo Boxing - Polideportivo Alexis Arguello, Managua, Nicaragua - Staff take the temperature of a child in his mother's arms as they enter the arena, despite most sport being cancelled around the world as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues. REUTERS

Police officers talk with people sitting in the Sefton Park, as spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Liverpool, Britain. REUTERS

A boy walks down along the railway line after he received free food at a slum area following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Bangkok, Thailand. REUTERS

A child with his mother from Makoko Slum, carries their food parcel distributed by the Nigerian Red Cross, provided for those under coronavirus related movement restrictions, in Lagos, Nigeria. AP Photo