Americans hoped they were finally out of the woods when coronavirus lockdowns ended and local economies started to slowly but surely reopen. However, as June turned into July, it became clear the coronavirus wasn’t backing down. Quite the opposite. Now cities across the nation are experiencing dramatic COVID-19 case spikes, hospital beds are once again running out, and some governors are reimposing old quarantine measures.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, an infectious disease expert and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently reported his concern regarding the growing number of positive COVID-19 cases.
At the end of June, Dr. Fauci told a senate panel that if the country fails to take additional actions to stop the pandemic, he “would not be surprised” to see the number of daily new coronavirus cases top 100,000 per day.
“Clearly we are not in total control right now,” Fauci said, noting that “we’re going in the wrong direction” in terms of new cases.
Fauci Says It’s Time to “Regroup”
To address the backward momentum so many states are experiencing, Dr. Fauci recommends that “we’ve really got to almost regroup, call a timeout – not necessarily lock down again but we’ve got to do this in a more measured way,” Fauci said in an interview with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in mid-July.
According to Dr. Fauci, the hardest-hit states can pause and implement the most important measures believed to stop the transmission of COVID-19:
- Require face masks
- Close bars
- Stop crowd congregations
- Enforce social distancing
If states can implement those precautions “for a few weeks in a row, I’ll guarantee you those numbers will come down,” Fauci said in an interview.
Since “anywhere from 20% to 45% of people” infected with COVID-19 don’t show any symptoms, people have a “societal responsibility” to wear one at all times, especially those who are young, Fauci explained.
The “Proof Is In the Pudding”
In Dr. Fauci’s words, the “proof is in the pudding” that the U.S needs to change its course of action in order to prevent a long-lasting surge of the coronavirus.
He emphasized that public health measures can be used “as a vehicle or a gateway to opening the country again,” rather than an obstacle to it.
“If we do it in a measured way, I strongly believe we can turn this around in the southern states that are getting hit right now, and we can prevent it from happening in states that are still at that point of trying to open up,” he added. “You’ve got to do it correctly. You can’t jump over steps, which is very perilous when you think about rebound.”
With the right precautions, Fauci believes, America can escape its growing trend of 50,000, 60,000, or 70,000 new cases per day.
Sources
- https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/fauci-responds-trump-i-consider-myself-realist-opposed-alarmist-n1234441
- https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/hospitals/fauci-clarifies-u-s-not-midst-new-covid-19-wave-as-daily-cases-top-50k
- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/13/anthony-fauci-second-wave-coronavirus-cases