WASHINGTON, DC - President Trump cited Iowa as one of the states "lightly affected" by coronavirus Monday during a task force briefing.
While mentioning the possibility of easing federal guidelines such as limiting gatherings to 10 people or less, Trump referred to three states including Iowa.
"Our country was not built to be shut down," Trump said. He cited "lightly affected" states, like Nebraska, Idaho and Iowa, as a reason to ease the guidelines in some areas, while possibly keeping them in place in more heavily hit states such as Washington, California and New York.
Iowa, Idaho and Nebraska have fewer than three positive cases of COVID-19 for every 100,000 residents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. New York has more than 77 cases per 100,000 residents.
Governor Kim Reynolds has asked Iowans to practice social distancing and work from home during the virus outbreak, but has declined to impose a "shelter in place" order.
When asked about a time frame for easing federal restrictions Monday, Trump said, "I'm not looking at months, I can tell you right now."