Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is issuing a warning to states reopening.
On Thursday, the nation’s top global health expert appeared on the Web series “Pass the Mic” with actress Julia Roberts where he was asked what he believes are the “most important things” people should know at the moment.
“As a public health person, as a scientist and a physician, the only thing I can do is give my best public health, scientific and medical opinion based not just on opinion but on scientific evidence,” Fauci said.
He continued, “The scientific evidence clearly indicates that physical separation has worked but not completely if you look at the curves in our country. It isn’t like every day its dramatically going down.”
Although some strides toward reopening have been made, Fauci insists, “Now is not the time to tempt fate and pull back completely.”
See Fauci’s remarks below:
While Fauci did admit that its obvious states cannot remain closed forever, he stressed the importance of proper strategies being in place to respond to “blips in cases,” which he believes will be inevitable.
Fauci said, “If you are going to ‘open up’ or get back to some form of normality, you have to have in place the capability of being responsive when you get the blips in cases that you’re going to inevitably get.”
Since the White House opted to distance from daily coronavirus press briefings in April, Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx have made fewer public appearances. However, the CDC has continued to stress the importance of maintaining social distancing guidelines amid the country’s reopening.
As of Thursday afternoon, the United States has more than 1.6 million confirmed coronavirus cases and the death toll is approaching 96,000.
Each state has now incorporated its own variation of plans to reopen despite only 16 out of 50 states’ coronavirus statistics showing a downward trajectory of over 10% in new daily cases.