Like President Donald Trump’s economic strategy, easing coronavirus restrictions is not going to happen all at once.
Dr. Anthony Fauci believes social distancing guidelines will dissipate slowly before American life returns to normal.
During a podcast interview with The Wall Street Journal, he explained how it is necessary for the nation to see a decline in the coronavirus curve before that can happen.
“I don’t think you need to get down to zero before you can start contemplating gradually relieving some of the restrictions,” Fauci said. “It isn’t like a light switch, on and off. It’s a gradual pulling back on certain restrictions to try and get society a bit back to normal.”
Fauci reiterated it is necessary to see a steep decline in the curve before easing some of these restrictions.
He was asked if the nation would need to move toward zero cases or zero deaths.
“I look more at the cases because you expect that a certain percentage of people who go into intensive care and require intubation are going to die, that’s the unfortunate fact of it,” Fauci said. “So, deaths are the last thing that stop. When the deaths stop then you know you are in good shape.”
The conversation pivoted to Fauci explaining the actual measures that will be taken when it is time for daily life to return to normal. He circled back to his original point of how completely jumping back in is not something the nation should do.
Fauci listed the things Americans could still do to be cautious while enjoying the things they used to. One of them being hand washing and the other being something Americans do often.
“You don’t ever shake anybody’s hands, that’s clear,” Fauci said.
Another step Americans can take is wearing cloth masks if they are unable to avoid large gatherings or staying six feet apart.
“It is trying to get back to some form of normality,” Fauci said.