n the years after coronavirus, nothing will be as it was before, Pulitzer-prize winning public

health journalist Laurie Garrett said Thursday.

"I think we're going to get four, five years from now and there will not be a single aspect of our
lives that's been unchanged," she said at CNN's ongoing coronavirus townhall. "It's almost
impossible to really fully envision what that will look like."
Most states in the US are phasing out of restrictions put in place to curb the spread of
coronavirus. And while businesses are slowly opening again, an influential model often cited by
the White House has said the death toll from the virus could exceed 130,000 by August.
Meanwhile, some local leaders have said their communities are not ready to undo the
restrictions.

Watch the entire CNN coronavirus town hall

The lack of a unified approach in addressing the pandemic may cause problems in eradicating
the virus -- even with a vaccine, Garrett said.
"The virus will continue to circulate in the world, regardless of whether or not there's a vaccine --
unless we're committed to a strategic goal of really getting rid of the virus from the planet with
the appropriate implementation of vaccine for everybody: 7.5 billion human beings."
As the length and breadth of coronavirus' effects become clearer, Americans may reconsider
everyday aspects of life: from air travel to going to meetings that involve human contact, she
said.
"All sorts of interactions and behaviors that we've taken for granted will look different," Garrett
said. "We have not yet really felt the effect of the great depression that we're marching into."

Trump administration rejects CDC guidance on reopening US amid coronavirus

Garrett contradicted Vice President Mike Pence's assessment that the pandemic will be largely
over by the end of May, saying that she puts the timeline closer to 36 months.
She attributed Pence's timeline to the White House's goal to restart the economy and open
businesses, but already she predicts the economy will be feeling the effects of this pandemic for
years.
When the health concerns are over, she said, governments may not be able to invest in change
and companies may not have the funds to develop and innovate, she said.
Gary Cohn, former economic adviser to President Trump, emphasized Thursday that he is
optimistic about the future of the US economy and believes the nation will be "very clever and
very creative" in creating new opportunities, but also disagrees with the President's assessment
that the next year will be incredible economically.
"I think it's going to take longer than 12 months for us to evolve to where we're comfortable,"
Cohn told CNN's Erin Burnett. "Unless something miraculously happens in the medical field and
we get a vaccine... it's going to take some period of time."