Our editorial last week on the costs of our government-mandated national economic shutdown struck a chord with readers, including perhaps at the White House. President Trump is now saying he wants the country back to normal by mid-April. While this is right as a direction, the shift to a sustainable health and economic strategy will require a transition and a credible explanation to the public.

The initial 15-day national period of mass social distancing ends Monday, which is a chance for reconsidering the anti-virus shutdown strategy. The challenge will be finding a balance between protecting against the virus and resuming commerce and business that is crucial to getting people back to work.

The current at-home quarantines across the country are buying time to slow the coronavirus spread, as well as to surge masks, protective equipment and ventilators to hospitals and hot spots. This hospital surge is crucial to saving lives and reassuring the public that America’s cities aren’t on a path to Italy’s scenes of tragic triage. New York, Seattle and perhaps New Orleans will have to cope in coming days and weeks with hundreds and perhaps thousands of critically ill Covid-19 patients. Americans will want to know how a sustainable strategy prevents similar scenes around the country.

Mr. Trump and other leaders will also have to be candid about the limitations of what we know. Because of the lack of widespread testing, we don’t know how many people are infected with few or only mild symptoms. This information would help us get a better fix on the real death rate, not least by group and health status, and thus to know how under siege our hospitals will be over weeks and months. More accurate testing data will also reassure the public.

Some degree of social distancing and self- or mandated quarantines will also have to continue. This is especially true for the elderly and those who are immuno-suppressed. The public education on those points can’t let up.