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The president went on to send a number of retweets Monday morning supportive of the argument that the economic cost of extending strict social distancing guidance beyond the 15-day period is unaffordable.

\"PHOTO:
Yuri Gripas/Reuters
PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during a news conference, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Washington D.C., U.S., March 22, 2020.
>

The president's top economic adviser took to FOX News later in the day to echo the same message, declaring that \"we can’t shutter the economy.\"

\"The president was right. The cure can’t be worse than the disease, and we’re going to have to make some difficult tradeoffs,\" Kudlow said.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams – a top member of the president’s task force - went on NBC Monday morning to argue the opposing sentiment, warning that things are “going to get bad” this week and called it a “somber” occasion in America.

\"I want America to understand, this week, it's going to get bad. And we really need to come together as a nation,” Adams said in the interview. “Everyone needs to be taking the right steps right now and that means stay at home.”


What to know about coronavirus:

The Trump administration has said the CDC plans to update its guidelines on Monday, but the latest revision isn’t likely to apply to the general public but rather health care workers and others in “critical infrastructure” jobs.

Vice President Pence announced in Sunday’s briefing that the CDC rules for people working critical infrastructure jobs would “make it possible for people that have been exposed to return to work more quickly with, by wearing a mask for a certain period of time.”

Contacted by ABC News, the CDC did not provide any additional information.

ABC News' Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.

This report was featured in the Tuesday, March 24, 2020, episode of “Start Here,” ABC News’ daily news podcast.

\"Start Here\" offers a straightforward look at the day's top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, the ABC News app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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