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A second round of Covid-19 cases is “inevitable” when fall arrives, the country’s leading infectious disease doctor said, as people increasingly try to resume normal life and more states ease or lift their orders. stay at home.
“I am almost certain that it will return, because the virus is highly communicable and spreads worldwide,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci during a webinar by the Washington Economic Club earlier this week.
Americans could suffer “a bad fall and a bad winter” if the country is not prepared, said Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
This is what we know about the possibility of a second wave of the virus and the reasoning behind it.
Why in the fall?
There are many aspects of the virus that scientists are still unaware of, but older viruses offer some clues.
Dr. Greg Poland, professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the Mayo Clinic, said that SARS-CoV-2, the technical name for the new coronavirus that causes Covid-19, is likely to follow that pattern.
“Often, not always … often the second wave of a pandemic is worse,” Poland said, adding that the coronavirus pandemic spread in the United States well into the flu season.
“This will not stop until it infects 60 to 70 percent of people,” said Mike Osterholm, director of CIDRAP, in an interview with CNN.
“The idea that this is going to be done soon defies microbiology.”
What can be done about a second wave of infection?
Health experts say the next few months would be a good time to prepare for a possible second virus outbreak.
Hospitals and clinics must replenish their stock of personal protective equipment and test supplies. People should try to be healthier if possible, continue to wear face masks for now, and hold meetings for no more than 10 people, several experts told CNN.
As cities are reopened, local officials should make plans to quickly reissue stay-at-home orders or other strict measures of social distancing in the future if necessary, Poland said
Health officials across the country should continue to focus on expanding coronavirus testing, contact tracing and treatment, said Dr. Helen Boucher, chief of the division of geographic medicine and infectious diseases at the University of Columbia Medical Center. Tufts.
“We hope to have more tools in our toolbox, maybe we will have some treatments for Covid-19 by then, maybe we will have better diagnoses,” said Boucher.
Boucher says improving the way healthcare workers handle the coronavirus pandemic will be key, making the country “as prepared as we can be” when it comes time to face an outbreak of both coronavirus and flu.
“We are putting a lot of hope in that, but we have no answers yet,” Poland said. “This (virus) is only 16 weeks old, so there are a lot of things we don’t know yet.”
“We have work to do. We are looking for other therapies. This trial will continue,” Dr. Andre Kalil, the lead investigation behind the clinical trial, told CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen earlier this week.
Has the virus gone elsewhere?
Yes.
Singapore was initially praised for its response and its apparent ability to suppress infections in the first three months of the coronavirus pandemic. Then the number of cases exploded in April.
To control the spread, the government has attempted to isolate the dorms, evaluate workers, and transfer symptomatic patients to quarantine facilities. It is a daunting task because workers live in overcrowded conditions that make social distancing almost impossible. The government also instituted what it calls a “circuit breaker,” a package of restrictions and new rules, combined with severe penalties.
