ZUCKERBERG HAS SOME CONCERNS

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg warned Wednesday about moving too quickly to reopen parts of the country, saying that it could “almost guarantee future outbreaks” of the novel coronavirus, which has infected more than 1 million people in the U.S. and caused roughly 60,000 deaths.

“While there are massive societal costs from the current shelter in place restrictions, I worry that reopening certain places too quickly, before infection rates have been reduced to very minimal levels, will almost guarantee future outbreaks and even worse economic outcomes,” Zuckerberg said during a call in which Facebook reported an 18 percent increase in first-quarter revenue, according to The Washington Post.

“I am very concerned that this health emergency and therefore the economic fallout will last longer than people are currently anticipating,” added Zuckerberg, who with his wife Priscilla Chan runs the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a philanthropic effort focused on combating disease.

His comments came the same day that President Trump announced that the administration’s social-distancing guidelines would begin “fading out” and as some states start to lift certain restrictions on nonessential businesses. They also contrasted with Tesla CEO Elon Musk‘s view of stay-at-home orders.

During a call with investors on Wednesday, Musk reportedly said that the quarantine measures were akin to “forcibly imprisoning people in their homes against all their constitutional rights.” Earlier this month, Musk’s Silicon Valley-based electric car company announced it would slash pay for salaried employees and furlough all hourly workers.