Joe Biden hits out at Trump for proposing an early end to coronavirus shutdown

Democratic frontrunner also criticises president for reacting too slowly to the crisis

Joe Biden has criticised Donald Trump for considering ending a shutdown in place across the United States to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The president has weighed removing the widespread restrictions on businesses and movement after just two weeks, in contradiction of the advice from experts on the White House’s own task force. Mr Trump said he was considering the move out of concern for the US economy and said he hoped the economy would be back to normal by Easter Sunday, on 12 April.

“He should stop talking and start listening to the medical experts,” Mr Biden said on CNN.

“You talk about having an economic crisis. You want an economic crisis? Watch the number of dead go up. We all want the economy to open up as rapidly as impossible, the way to do that is to take care of the medical side of this immediately,” he added.

The former vice president and frontrunner for the Democratic nomination also criticised the speed with which Mr Trump reacted to the coronavirus outbreak.

“The virus is not his fault, but the way in which he has been so slow ... is astonishing.

“The idea that we are in a position to say by Easter we’re going to have people going back to work, what is he talking about?”

On Monday, Mr Trump said his administration would reassess whether the economy would continue to stay shut down after 15 days.

“Our country wasn’t built to be shut down,” he said. “America will, again, and soon, be open for business. Very soon. A lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting. Lot sooner. We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself.”

Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force, said previously that he would prefer the shutdown last for as long as possible.

“I think we should really be overly aggressive and get criticised for overreacting,” he said.