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WASHINGTON — President Trump on Thursday announced new guidelines for reopening states as soon as May 1 now that the coronavirus appears to be peaking in the US, but he left the decision up to each state’s governor while recommending criteria that would have to be met for each to gradually reopen.

“America wants to be open, and Americans want to be open,” Trump said at the White House during the daily Coronavirus Task Force press briefing.

“Based on the latest data, our team of experts agree we can start the next front in our war, which we are calling Opening Up America Again, and that is what we are doing, opening up our country, and we have to do that.”

Trump stressed that getting the economy back in gear soon would help America recover from the pandemic.

“As I have said for some time now, a national shutdown is not a sustainable long-term solution. To preserve the health of our citizens, we must also preserve the health and functioning of our economy. Over the long haul, you cannot do one without the other,” he said.

The president said the task force’s new guidelines “will allow governors to take a phased and deliberate approach to reopening their individual states,” but that it would be up to individual governors to make the decisions.

“Governors will be empowered to tailor an approach that needs the diverse circumstances of their own states. Every state is very different. If they need to remain closed, we will allow them to do that, and if they believe it is time to reopen, we will provide them the freedom and guidance to accomplish that task and very, very quickly,” he said.

The Opening Up America Again guidelines say states that show a downward trend in COVID-19 cases will be able to reopen restaurants, bars, theaters, workplaces, sporting centers and gyms as soon as May 1.

“Bottom line, if you’re ready and you have those beautiful low numbers like some of you have, let’s get going, let’s open up your state,” Trump told state leaders in a call in which he praised governors for their hard work. “You’re gonna call your shots.”

Under the guidelines, states will need to demonstrate a downward trajectory of COVID-19 cases over a 14-day period and a “robust” system for testing health care workers before they can proceed to a phased opening.

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The phases, as described by task force member Dr. Deborah Birx, include:

Phase 1, which recommends continued social distancing, closure of schools, teleworking and sheltering in place for vulnerable individuals. Non-essential travel would be discouraged, bars should remain closed and visits to nursing homes and hospitals should remain prohibited, the guidelines warn. “If a vulnerable population needs to return to work, there should be special accommodations for all vulnerable populations. If the schools are already closed, they should remain closed,” Birx said. “All visits to senior living facilities should continue to be prohibited. Large venues can only be operated under strict physical distancing protocols. Gyms could open if they adhere to strict physical distancing.”

Phase 2 allows schools, restaurants and bars to reopen with diminished occupancy. Non-essential travel can resume, and people can gather in groups no larger than 50, but teleworking is still encouraged. “This is for the employers. We still would like to encourage telework, and the common areas should remain closed or be physically distant,” Birx said. “This should be a relief to many households that have small children: schools, day cares and camps can reopen in Phase 2. Visits to senior living facilities however should remain and hospitals prohibited.”

Phase 3 allows workplaces to reopen with no restrictions, and visits to senior care centers and hospitals can resume. “It is essentially returning to our new normal. With all of the what we talked about through all phases: continuing the good hygiene practices, continuing the respect for spaces between individuals, because we know that we still have an issue with asymptomatic spread,” she said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, another expert on the task force, left open the possibility that there could be professional sporting events — with fans in the stands — in Phase 3 of the plan, which would be around July or August.

“The answer is, it is conceivable that we will be able to do that,” he said. “I think there will always have to be attention to making sure that we don’t do all that packing in together. I think we’ll be able to have sports events in that phase where you actually have participants there.”

Trump applauded the potential return of sports.

“We’re going to be back to enjoying sports the way it’s supposed to be,” Trump said.

Asked by The Post if states that already meet the preliminary criteria, such as Montana and Utah, could reopen immediately, Trump confirmed that they would.

“Yes, they will be able to go literally tomorrow. Yes, because the guidelines if you go back, they’ve met those guidelines, actually pretty long ago,” he said.

Under the headline “Core state preparedness responsibilities,” the federal government’s plan is asking states to be responsible for testing and screening and securing an independent supply of personal protective equipment.

Earlier Thursday, concerned governors had cautioned Trump against reopening too quickly, telling him they were still experiencing critical coronavirus test shortages.

During the conference call in which Trump presented his guidelines to reopen the economy, multiple state leaders told him they were still struggling to secure enough complete testing kits and were worried about a second spike in infection.

“We have an enormous lack of manufacturing capability for testing kits themselves,” said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, according to a person familiar with the call.

Describing it as a “hand-to-mouth existence,” the Democrat said he had more than 160 nursing homes with COVID-19 cases that he could not test because the state lacked kits and swabs to get the samples needed for them.

“That is an extreme limitation, and we literally are unpacking bags from China by the minute and getting them to a nursing home,” he said.

Trump promised to ramp up manufacturing of these testing elements, saying 5.1 million more swabs would be delivered to states by the end of the month.

The guidelines were developed by Birx and Fauci in coordination with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield.

Trump also named a bipartisan group of House and Senate members to serve on the Opening Up America Again Congressional Group, including two New York Republicans, upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik and Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin.

Trump’s announcement came as seven Northeastern states on Thursday extended their shutdown until May 15 to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

Additional reporting by Steven Nelson and Bob Fredericks