Dr. Scott Gottlieb — former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner for President Donald Trump — is suggesting some parts of the United States are going to have a very difficult time slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Gottlieb was asked if what is happening in the Midwest with the coronavirus is the same as what happened in the Northeast, then South and West.
“I think there’s some truth to that. I think there’s a lot of infection around the country. It’s going to be hard to keep the virus out,” Gottlieb said.
He added, “Even in the Northeast right now, it’s going to be hard for that part of the country not to get re-seeded, and so you’re just seeing it rotate through different parts of the country.”
Watch his comments below:
“It’s going to be hard to keep the virus out,” @ScottGottliebMD warns of #COVID19 "I think we're likely to see this continue, where there will be these epidemics in different parts of the country, and compensatory action to get it under control." pic.twitter.com/IBVshSgURt
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) August 2, 2020
Host John Dickerson questioned Gottlieb about Dr. Anthony Fauci’s claim suggesting it is “impossible to predict where the arc of this crisis will go.”
Gottlieb explained there are going to be outbreaks in different parts of the nation.
“I think we’re likely to see this continue where there is going to be these epidemics in different parts of the country and in compensatory action to get it under control,” Gottlieb said.
He continued, “And it’s going to be this slow burn, unfortunately, for the rest of the year.”
Gottlieb acknowledged states in the Midwest are seeing an uptick in the number of coronavirus cases.
Gottlieb also estimated that one in 70 Americans are actively infected.
He noted as parts of the country are affected by the spread of the coronavirus, there is more vigilance in mitigating the effects of the outbreak.
The number of coronavirus infections has reached more than 4.6 million and there have been nearly 155,000 deaths as of Sunday evening.