VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The United States may be ready to start gradually reopening in May, the government's top infectious diseases expert said Sunday, as signs grew that the coronavirus pandemic was peaking. President Donald Trump had earlier wanted the world's largest economy to be "raring to go" by Easter Sunday, but most of the country remained at a standstill and churches took celebrations online to halt the spread of the virus that has killed more than 22,000 people in the US. Trump has cast the decision on when to ease the lockdown as the biggest of his presidency as he faces competing pressures from public health experts and businesses along with some conservative allies who want a swift return to business as usual. Unlike in most Western countries, lockdown decisions are primarily up to local governments, not the president, and leaders of a number of hard-hit, densely populated states have vowed to act as long as necessary//JP