On Thursday, President Donald Trump released guidance for a phased reopening of parts of the country’s economy that also leaves the final decisions up to governors.

The document is eighteen pages long, recommends that states see a downward trajectory in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases as well as flu-like symptoms before they move to lift shelter-at-place orders and other restrictions meant to curb the spread of the virus.

It suggests that states and regions that see a decline in documented cases over 14 days ensure that hospitals can treat all patients without crisis care. And have a strong testing program in place, including antibody tests for at-risk health care workers before moving to the phased reopening.

According to the administration, the goal of the guidelines is to mitigate the risk of a resurgence in cases and protect the most vulnerable populations, including the elderly and those who are immuno-compromised.

“To preserve the health of our citizens, we must also preserve the health and functioning of our economy,” Trump said at the news conference. “Over the long haul, you can’t do one without the other.”

“A prolonged lockdown combined with a forced economic depression would inflict an immense and wide-ranging toll on public health,” Trump continued. 

Trump said that reopening would happen “one careful step at a time.”

Trump has been hopeful that low population states like Iowa, Nebraska, or Idaho could reopen their economies sooner than the rest. But projections show that some states, including Iowa and Nebraska, may not hit their peak number of cases for a couple more weeks,  they and therefore may not see a downward trend in cases until after that.

The guidance fails to establish any plan for how to increase testing. It does, however, delegates responsibilities to states as they determine how to lift restrictions. It calls for states to set up screening and contact tracing needed to quickly identify new clusters of cases, screen for asymptomatic cases, and supply personal protective equipment to front-line healthcare workers.

It also explicitly states that the steps are implementable at the state-wide or county-level at the “discretion” of individual governors, which experts suggest, was made as explicit to counter the backlash President Trump received for denying states rights previously.