Donald Trump wants the US back open for business by Easter — April 12. Never mind that experts including Anthony Fauci, one of the key members of the White House coronavirus task force, believe that cases of Covid-19 might not even peak before May. The president did not say what calculation underpinned his target: “I just thought it was a beautiful day.” Yet it is easy to imagine that in the run-up to an election — one that might hinge on how his administration is perceived to have dealt not just with the health crisis but with the recession that will result — Mr Trump wants to get the markets and US growth back up again, and fast.

Many countries are grappling with similar issues. But Mr Trump’s seemingly random target date for getting millions of people back to work not only runs contrary to what health experts say is needed to slow the spread of the virus: a strict shelter-at-home policy. It might leave the US vulnerable to a dangerous second wave of infections and further economic contraction.

The virus outbreak is exposing weaknesses in US governance, economy, and social protections that have been building for decades. Yet when it comes to the World Health Organization’s warning this week that the world’s largest economy has the “potential” to become the new centre of the pandemic, the Trump administration must shoulder a good part of the blame.