Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former head of Food and Drug Administration, says the course of the COVID-19 pandemic over the course of the next four to six weeks is “baked in” and that the federal government will be limited in its ability to help localities around the country combat the virus.
During an appearance on CBS News’ “Face The Nation” on Sunday, Gottlieb predicted that the spread of the coronavirus will be “so diffuse around the country that the federal government’s not going to be able to backstop local regions who are going to be facing very unprecedented situations.”
“There will be therapeutics available, vaccinations available, probably to help on the tail end of what we’re gonna go through,” he continued.
He added, “But, we’re gonna have to go through this the old fashioned way. We’re going to have to, you know, hunker down, reduce our interactions, wear masks more aggressively — higher quality masks.”
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He continued:
“Right now, to contextualize this for the individual, the prevalence is about 1.5%. That means if you’re in a restaurant with 50 people, there’s a 50% chance nationally that someone has Covid in that restaurant. In North Dakota, where infections are higher, if you’re in a group of 10 people, there’s a 50% chance that someone in the group of 10 people has Covid.”
He added, “That’s the kind of risk we’re facing individually right now, and it’s only going to get worse.”
In the days after the election, pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna announced that their late-stage trials of COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing the virus.
However, Gottlieb says it is unlikely those vaccines would be able to curb the current spread of the virus that is gripping the country.
On Saturday, the U.S. recorded 171,980 new cases and 1,428 deaths.