Chris Christie: We can’t wait until ‘we can test every American’ to reopen economy

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), an ally of President Trump, said Monday that states will not be able to wait for the capacity to test all residents for the coronavirus before businesses and local economies will be forced to reopen.

In an interview with ABC News, Christie said that increasing the capacity of testing is a priority but that state economies would not survive the wait required for officials to be able to test every citizen.

“It’s very important, but not the be-all-end-all,” Christie said.

“It’s important, but if we wait until we can test every American to be able to reopen our economy, we won’t have an economy left,” he continued.

“If we wait until we can test every American to be able to reopen our economy, we won’t have an economy left,” former New Jersey @GovChristie says, in an interview with ABC News’ @linseydavis about what he thinks is needed to reopen the American economy. https://t.co/FRjrPdxMqF pic.twitter.com/X8hqmDjWAS

— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) April 28, 2020

His remarks come as states across the country have announced plans to reopen some non-essential businesses and public spaces in the coming weeks.

During a conference call with governors on Monday, Trump urged some states to consider reopening schools as well.

“Some of you might start thinking about school openings. Because a lot of people are wanting to have the school openings. It’s not a big subject, young children have done very well in this disaster that we’ve all gone through,” Trump reportedly said Monday.