washington anxious to spur an economic recovery without risking lives president donald trump on sunday insisted that you can satisfy both see states gradually lift lockdowns while also protecting people from the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 60000 americansthe president fielding questions from americans in a virtual town hall from the lincoln memorial acknowledged valid fears on both sides of the issue some people are worried about getting sick others are reeling from lost jobs and livelihoodsbut while trump increased his projection for the total us death total to 80000 or 90000 up by more than 20000 fatalities from what he had suggested just a few weeks ago he struck a note of urgency to restart the nations economy declaring we have to reopen our countrywe have to get it back open safely but as quickly as possible trump saidafter more than a month of being cooped up at the white house trump returned from a weekend at the camp david presidential retreat in maryland for the virtual town hall hosted by fox news channelthe president said of his monumental backdrop we never had a more beautiful set than thisas concerns mount about his reelection bid trump stuck to his relentlessly optimistic view of the nations ability to rebound soonit is all working out trump said it is horrible to go through but it is working outmany public health experts believe the nation cannot safely reopen fully until a vaccine is developed trump declared sunday that he believed one could be available by years endus public health officials have said a vaccine is probably a year to 18 months away but dr anthony fauci the nations leading expert on infectious diseases and member of the white house coronavirus task force said in late april that it is conceivable if a vaccine is soon developed that it could be in wide distribution as early as januarythough the administrations handling of the pandemic particularly its ability to conduct widespread testing has come under fierce scrutiny the president tried to shift the blame to china and said the us was ready to begin reopeningill tell you one thing we did the right thing and i really believe we saved a million and a half lives the president said but he also broke with the assessment of his senior adviser and soninlaw jared kushner saying it was too soon to say the federal government had overseen a success storytrumps impatience also flashed while noting that states would go at their own pace in returning to normal with ones harder hit by the coronavirus going slower he said that some states frankly i think arent going fast enough he singled out virginia which has a democratic governor and legislature and he urged the nations schools and universities to return to classes this fallfederal guidelines that encouraged people to stay at home and practice social distancing expired late last weekdebate continued over moves by governors to start reopening state economies that