Fauci warns: more deaths, economic damage if America reopens too quickly

WASHINGTON – The leading infectious disease expert from the US Government. USA He issued a forceful warning Tuesday that cities and states could “turn back time” and see more COVID-19 deaths and economic damage alike if they lift coronavirus orders to stay home too quickly, a sharp contrast as the President Donald Trump pushes a free-falling economy to the right.

Senators listen as Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks remotely during a virtual hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Work and Pensions, Tuesday, May 12, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Sitting from the left are Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, Senator Mike Braun, Republican of Indiana, center, and Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Ky. Win McNamee / Pool via AP

“There is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you may not be able to control,” Dr. Anthony Fauci warned a committee of the Senate and the nation as more than two dozen states have begun lifting their blockades as a first step toward Economic recovery.

Delivered by dramatic, sometimes awkward teleconference, Fauci and other key government officials disagreed with a president who urges protesting state-mandated restrictions and insists that “day in and day out, we are making tremendous progress “

Trump, whose re-election depends heavily on the economy, talks about his administration’s record with the virus daily.

Underlining the severity of the pandemic that has hit Congress and the White House, Fauci and other experts testified from their homes. Committee chair Lamar Alexander chaired the study hearing at his cabin in Tennessee, though several committee members attended in person in a mysteriously empty Capitol Hill chamber, masked and seated 6 feet away.

The tension to balance people’s safety against the virus, which still amazes doctors with the cunning ways it can kill, against the dire economic consequences is also occurring in many other countries. Italy partially lifted the blocking restrictions last week only to see a huge jump in confirmed COVID-19 infections in its worst affected region. And Lebanon relaxed a national shutdown late last month, but said Tuesday that the restrictions will be reinstated for the rest of the week after an increase in reported infections.

Fauci told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that Fauci told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that Fauci told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that Fauci told him to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Work and Pensions.

“There is no doubt, even in the best of circumstances, when you remove mitigation you will see some cases appear,” Fauci said.

Move too fast and “the consequences could be really serious,” he added. Not only would it cause “some avoidable suffering and death, but it could even delay you on the road to trying to obtain economic recovery.”

With more than 30 million unemployed people in the USA. In the U.S., Trump has been lobbying states to reopen.

A recent Associated Press review found that 17 states failed to meet a key White House benchmark to loosen the restrictions: a 14-day downward trajectory in new cases or positive evidence rates. However, many of them have started or are about to reopen, including Alabama, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah.

Of the 33 states that have had a 14-day downward trajectory, 25 are partially open or moving to reopen in a matter of days, according to the AP analysis. Other states that have not seen a 14-day decline remain closed despite meeting some benchmarks.

Fauci expressed optimism that vaccines will eventually arrive, along with treatments in addition to the only drug that has so far shown a modest effect in the fight against COVID-19. But it would be “a bridge too far” to wait for them in time for fall when schools hope to reopen, he said.

For now, “all roads back to work and back to school go through tests,” said Alexander, the chairman of the Republican committee.

Although Trump stated this week, “We have met the moment and prevailed” by increasing and improving virus testing, Republican senators on the panel were noticeably less optimistic.

Lack of evidence has affected the US response. USA From the beginning, when a test developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ran into numerous problems. Utah Senator Mitt Romney said the United States may have finally overtaken South Korea’s test leader, but that country has far fewer deaths because it started testing early.

“I think our test record has nothing to celebrate,” said Romney.

The Trump administration’s “evidence czar” admiral, Brett Giroir, said the United States could conduct at least 40 to 50 million tests per month by September. That would result in between 1.3 million and 1.7 million tests per day. Harvard researchers have said the United States must be making 900,000 by this Friday to reopen safely.

And a test only indicates if someone is infected that day; they could get the virus the next day. Encouraged by Alexander on how the nation’s 100,000 schools and 5,000 universities could reopen in August, Giroir expressed confidence that there will be enough evidence for schools to design safe strategies, perhaps testing a certain number of students every few days.

Worldwide, the virus has infected nearly 4.2 million people and killed more than 287,000, more than 80,000 deaths in the United States alone. USA, the highest number in the world. Fauci said deaths in the United States are likely to be higher than the official count.

While Fauci has become the trusted scientific voice for millions of Americans, Senator Rand Paul expressed frustration with his warnings. The Kentucky Republican said Fauci was not the “end of everything” in coronavirus knowledge and that it is “somewhat ridiculous” to suggest that children should not go back to school, something Fauci never said.

“We don’t know everything about this virus and we had better be very careful, especially when it comes to children,” Fauci said.

While children seem less susceptible, doctors in New York are investigating about 100 young people whose COVID-19 may be related to a rare and dangerous inflammatory reaction. Three have died.

COVID-19 is also devastating nursing homes, with increasing infections and deaths among residents and their caregivers.

“If we can bring masks to everyone in the White House, I hope we can give masks to all nursing home employees who need it,” said Senator Maggie Hassan, DN.H., who also asked why those vulnerable populations were having a hard time getting tested when employees in contact with Trump get tested daily.

The White House recently recommended that states screen all residents and nursing home staff in the next two weeks.

Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Criticized the Trump administration for its “criminally vague” orientation on how states can safely reopen their economies. He pressed CDC chief Robert Redfield on why detailed recommendations prepared by agency experts had been shelved, The Associated Press reported. Redfield replied that those recommendations should appear on the agency’s website soon.

Three of Tuesday’s experts, Fauci, Redfield and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn, are in “modified quarantine” after two White House employees were recently infected, but are allowed to attend meetings. Management criticism, masked and keeping distance.

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