The United States is facing some “sleds” as Covid-19 cases continue to rise across the country, epidemiologist Dr. Larry Brilliant warned.
“All epidemiologists were screaming as loud as we could that three weeks after Memorial Day we would have a spike in cases and five weeks after Memorial Day we would begin to see a spike in hospitalizations and deaths,” Brilliant told CNN today. .
“If you let everyone out without facial masks and social distancing in the midst of a pandemic, this is what was predicted.” he said. “This is a consequence of our actions and a consequence of not having the guidance of the federal government and the states that follow and the counties that follow.”
The United States saw its biggest daily jump in new cases on Thursday, with more than 37,000 cases reported.
Brilliant added that the country needed to take “urgent” measures and increase testing, contact tracing and quarantine and treat sick people.
Reopening plans also need to be reevaluated, as interior spaces like restaurants and beauty salons put people at greater risk.
“It is not enough to say, ‘I won’t open anything else,'” Brilliant said. “You have to take back some of the things that you have done, because you cannot fight a pandemic in this way.”
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