“I don’t understand why that’s not happening,” Fauci said during a CNN town hall Thursday. “If you look at what’s going on in this country, I just don’t understand why we’re not doing that … We really should be.”

“We’re only as strong as every community, every county, every state, every American following the guidelines to a T,” Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator said Thursday.

Like other countries, the US can slow the spread, she said. “But it means everybody needs to take that same responsibility.”

CDC makes recommendations for communities to return to normal

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends communities be evaluated for four consecutive weeks and demonstrate three achievements before starting to return to normal life, according to a senior federal health official who has seen the guidelines submitted to the White House coronavirus task force.

Those recommendations require communities demonstrate a decrease in cases and deaths; a decrease in Covid-19-associated hospitalizations while keeping the capacity to care for the sick; and the public health capacity to investigate and control the virus.

It’s unclear if the White House task force has approved those recommendations or when the measuring of those benchmarks would begin. But they appear to be in line with Trump’s announcement this week to extend federal social distancing measures for 30 days.

CNN has reached out to the CDC about the recommendations multiple times but has not received a response.

Additionally, other guidelines submitted to the task force by public health experts include “no new cases for 14 days” and “the ability to detect new clusters” for certain parts of community life to resume, according to the source.

Virus can be spread through breathing, experts say

New federal guidelines are also expected soon on wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the virus, Trump said Thursday, adding that the guidance won’t require all Americans to use face coverings.

“I don’t think they’ll be mandatory because some people don’t want to do that,” he said, adding that Americans who do want to wear face coverings can “decide for themselves.”

“While the current (coronavirus) specific research is limited, the results of available studies are consistent with aerosolization of virus from normal breathing,” according to a letter written by Dr. Harvey Fineberg, chairman of a committee with the National Academy of Sciences.

New guidance for reducing the spread of the virus in long-term care facilities was also issued Thursday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in consultation with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It includes screening staff for symptoms and starting temperature checks, as well as instructing staff members to wear face masks when inside facilities.

Residents should cover their noses and mouths when staff are in their room, the guidance indicates. “Residents can use tissues for this,” it states. “They could also use cloth, non-medical masks when those are available.”

New York City’s EMTs face tough decisions

In hardest-hit part of the country, new guidance offers a grim glimpse into New York City’s dire circumstances.

New York City Emergency Medical Service (EMS) teams that cannot find or restart a pulse while administering CPR on adult cardiac arrest patients are instructed not to bring those patients to hospitals, according to a memo obtained by CNN and the chair of the regional emergency medical advisory committee familiar with the edict.

The new guidance, issued as a temporary change in response to the pandemic, is in place to help prevent the spread of the virus to EMS workers.

“In the event a resuscitation is terminated, and the body is in public view, the body can be left in the custody of NYPD,” the memo states.

One third-year resident there said she goes to work feeling “like a sheep going to slaughter.”

“My colleagues and I are writing our last will and testament. I’m 28 years old,” Dr. Laura Ucik said. “We fear that we may not survive this pandemic and yet we show up every day to this hospital to take care of our community. We’re running out of (personal protective equipment), we’re running out of pain medicine, we’re running out of sedatives, we’re running out of oxygen masks.”