Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is suggesting some states made the decision to reopen earlier than they should have.
Appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation” with Margaret Brennan, Gottlieb opened his remarks explaining some states felt they were “out of the woods” after the first wave and reopened against the “backdrop” of a lot of spread.
According to Gottlieb they had not “crushed” the virus in those states.
Brennan stepped in to clarify if Gottlieb believes they reopened too early.
“Too early in my view and people became complacent, especially younger people. They were going out and not taking precautions,” Gottlieb said.
Check out his comments below:
WATCH: @ScottGottliebMD tells @margbrennan some states reopened "too early in my view" as people became "complacent" about safe #COVID practices after the #firstwave
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) July 12, 2020
"Especially younger people, they were going out and not taking precautions," he explains. pic.twitter.com/9oWA7hOip8
Gottlieb explained older Americans did take precautions and protected the nursing homes, but as younger people became infected, they spread the coronavirus to vulnerable populations.
He reported a rise of coronavirus cases in nursing homes and acknowledged a decrease in positive tests in younger populations.
Gottlieb recognized the number of deaths is going to increase.
“Tragically, we’re going to see deaths start to rise and that’s why I said in two to three weeks until you see deaths get back above a thousand,” Gottlieb said.
Some states across the nation have seen a spike in the number of coronavirus cases.
Nine states including Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Ohio, Utah, and Wisconsin, reached record highs for single-day infections as of Friday, as IJR previously reported.
Florida has become the new epicenter of the outbreak.
As of Sunday, the state reported an increase of more than 15,000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, as IJR previously reported.
Gottlieb is not the only one to suggest some states made the move to reopen too early.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, attributed the spikes in the number of coronavirus cases to states that “stepped on the gas” during the reopening process.