We’ve looked into that a bit, and in fact, we can do this,” Fauci said. The U.S. has already loosened some travel restrictions around the world as the country continues to recover. But many medical experts believe the biggest risk is still a second wave of the virus, which could arrive in about eight to 12 months. They say that could still have far-reaching and devastating consequences, including a shortage of workers, people leaving the workforce to care for young children or the elderly, or falling wages or unemployment rates. In a rare joint news conference from the White House, Trump acknowledged that even with the steps that have been taken, he and his administration are “not yet where we want to be” as far as testing and tracing is concerned. But he said it is a work in progress that would eventually include having tests that would indicate whether someone had been infected in the last two weeks, not just two weeks before. At the same time, officials say no one yet knows the ideal way to reopen the economy. There is no vaccine and no specific treatment for the virus, which is spread mostly by droplets when someone coughs or sneezes and can cause symptoms like fever and a dry cough. President Donald Trump, in a rare joint news conference with the leaders of the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday, outlined a plan to re-open parts of the U.S. economy while maintaining social distancing guidelines. On Friday, Trump announced that all travel from Europe to the United States will be banned except for trade. He said that restrictions would be announced on Friday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time. On Monday, he said that travel from the United Kingdom would also be banned. In a late-night interview on Thursday, Mnuchin said there had been discussions about easing restrictions “very, very soon.” And Trump on Thursday had indicated that he wanted businesses, which have been ordered closed through at least mid-April, to be able to get back to work sooner. Asked about that on Thursday, McConnell said, “I would hope that before we lift anything we would be in a much stronger position to minimize the number of people who would die and be impacted by the coronavirus.” In the U.S., officials had hoped testing would be sufficient by early May to detect new cases of the virus with minimal false positives. But more testing is needed for that to happen, especially when people may have become infected and developed antibodies that won’t show up on tests. A team of federal and state health officials will come up with detailed guidelines that would be used to identify when states can move toward reopening, and when certain areas must remain at least partially restricted. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the guidelines would help to minimize outbreaks, outbreaks of a second wave of the virus that could have devastating consequences. “If the shutdown lasts until June, and if that looks like we are going to have a second wave of the virus, that’s going to be a tragedy for all of us,” Fauci said. “What we’re saying is there has to be a way to give you some level of confidence that you’re going to be able to deal with it.” He said one of the biggest concerns is that some of the restrictions may not be lifted soon enough. “What if it’s June, and it looks like the virus is going to come back in the same numbers that it came back in the fall,” he said. Experts also say there will be concerns over how communities will handle a rush of people arriving from less-affected areas. Dr. Deborah Birx, the U.S. coronavirus task force coordinator, said Thursday that there has to be a better way to track the virus and know where it is so that people can practice safe behavior. At the same time, she stressed that now is not the time to panic and that social distancing is crucial. “It is really critical that we all stay home when we are sick, it is critical that we not get together in groups in excess,” Birx said Thursday. “We can’t stop everything; there will be some places that are going to need to get back to normal. But these are the ones that have been hot spots.” ___ Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.