President Donald Trump wants to reopen the U.S. economy by Easter — but the rapidly spreading coronavirus may thwart his plan.

“We’ll give it some more time if we need a little more time, but we need to open this country up,” Trump said during a Fox News virtual town hall this week. “We have to go back to work, much sooner than people thought.”

But Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, pointed out that how quickly the virus is contained ultimately will determine when things return to some degree of normalcy.

“You’ve gotta be realistic,” Fauci told CNN. “You’ve got to understand that you don’t make the timeline, the virus makes the timeline.”

Some economists warn that opening America back up for business in a few weeks could lay the groundwork for a repeat of the Great Depression.

“If the president decides to go 180 on us and open by Easter (April 12), that will create chaos and confusion. That is the prescription for a depression,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, told CNN Business.

And former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that the public health situation must be under control before Americans start heading out of their homes and back to work.

As the virus spreads, almost half of all Americans have been ordered to stay home. Stores and small businesses are empty. Restaurants have converted to takeout only. Our roads are eerily quiet.

Everyone wants to get back to work, back to their daily routine.

But health experts continue to stress the importance of social distancing and isolating ourselves at home.

Caution and containment are key to getting our economy back on its feet, no matter how long it takes.

— JGG