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Fauci Says the U.S. Still Lacks Necessary Measures to Reopen Economy
According to the government's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. still does not have the critical testing and tracing procedures needed in order to reopen the economy.
“We have to have something in place that is efficient and that we can rely on, and we’re not there yet,” Fauci said.
Fauci’s remarks are following President Trump and his administration’s consideration of how quickly businesses can reopen. The president presented the possibility of reopening some areas by May 1st. Fauci said such a target is “a bit overly optimistic” for many areas of the country.
Too Much Optimism?
He explained that lessening the social distancing rules should occur in a “rolling” basis. He said it should not go all at once – “reflecting the ways COVID-19 struck different parts of the country at different times,” said Fox Business.
Fox Business added that Fauci’s top concerns include: “that there will be new outbreaks in locations where social distancing has eased, but public health officials don't yet have the capabilities to rapidly test for the virus, isolate any new cases and track down everyone that an infected person came into contact with.”
“I’ll guarantee you, once you start pulling back there will be infections. It’s how you deal with the infections that’s going count,” Fauci said. He said infected people “out of the circulation” serves as the key. He also reasoned out that “once you start getting clusters, then you’re really in trouble.”
A key detail missing from the White House Plan for "Opening Up America Again" is how much testing is needed? We looked at this question, compared to several benchmarks, and found that the U.S. is still coming up short. https://t.co/87W5ASU0Wf
— Jen Kates (@jenkatesdc) April 17, 2020
More than directing government research, Fauci is also one of the administration’s leading spokespeople on the virus.
Fauci also analyzes progress on blood tests that aim to identify people exposed to the coronavirus. However, Fauci warned that no evidence indicating that most of the tests work well has surfaced. He added that some countries bought millions of antibody tests only to find out that they didn’t work.
According to him, his staff is working with the Food and Drug Administration to validate those tests. “That means proving what level of antibodies it takes to really be immune; if particular types of antibodies are key rather than an overall level; and how long that protection lasts,” reported Fox Business.
“We’re going to have to find out the answer to all of those questions,” Fauci said. “I know people are anxious to say, ‘Well, we’ll give you a passport that says you’re antibody-positive, you can go to work and you’re protected.’ The worst possibility that would happen is if we’re actually wrong about that.”
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