Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health has been working on the federal government’s response to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, and this Sunday on CBS, he delivered an update on the situation that totally upends the rosy, self-confident projections from some Republicans around the country who’ve refused to heed public health warnings weeks and even months into the crisis. A slew of states across the country, all of which are led by Republican governors, have refused to issue broad stay-at-home orders for their citizens, but Fauci says that he “pleads” with those around the country to stay at home anyway, because the virus outbreak will get worse before it gets better.
Fauci explained to host Margaret Brennan:
‘This is going to be a bad week… we’re going to continue to see an escalation. Also, we hope that within a week, maybe a little bit more, we’ll start to see a flattening out of the curve and coming down. The mitigation… is absolutely key to the success of that. So on the one hand, things are going to get bad, and we need to be prepared for that. It is going to be shocking to some. It certainly is really disturbing to see that, but that’s what’s going to happen before it turns around.’
What should Americans be preparing for with #coronavirus?
Head of @NIAIDNews Dr. Anthony Fauci tells @margbrennan “This is going to be a bad week,” but also says “within a week we’ll start to see a flattening out of the curve pic.twitter.com/RnNx34XGnT
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 5, 2020
It’s important to note that the flattening curve of new cases that Fauci mentions is on a national level. Individual locales, especially those that have failed to take social distancing demands seriously, could see hotspot-style outbreaks further down the line.
Fauci explained:
‘Every time I get to that podium in the White House briefing room, I always essentially plead with people to please take a look at those very simple guidelines of physical separation. And they’re very very clear. They’re like multiple different ways that say all the same thing — physically separate… avoid any interaction like movies, and sports events, and things like that.’
Are some states putting residents at risk with no stay-at-home orders? @NIAIDNews’ Dr. Anthony Fauci underscores the importance of #socialdistancing: “I plead with people to look at those very simple guidelines of physical separation” pic.twitter.com/oaxEY9D6ky
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 5, 2020
Even once the flattening curve of new cases does materialize, there’s still an opening for deaths to stay very high for significant periods, and Fauci warned of the incoming consequences of the Coronavirus. Estimates for future trajectories have varied, but the Coronavirus has already claimed over 9,100 American lives and counting.
Fauci told Brennan:
‘I will not say we have it under control; that would be a false statement. We are struggling to get it under control, and that’s the issue that’s at hand right now. The thing that’s important is that what you see is increases in new cases that then start to flatten out. The end result of that, you don’t see for days if not weeks down the pipe… We need to be prepared that even though we see that mitigation is working, we’re still gonna see that tail-off of deaths.’
Watch below:
NEWS: Head of @NIAID Dr. Anthony Fauci tells @margbrennan of the #coronavirus pandemic:
“I will not say we have it under control, we are struggling to get it under control,” but notes that mitigation is showing some success in places like New York. pic.twitter.com/DgrkLWxmrB
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 5, 2020
Only recently, after the looming high death toll became abundantly clear, has President Donald Trump himself bothered to take the Coronavirus situation seriously.
He’s issued proclamations for Americans to be prepared for increasing death tolls, but these proclamations have come long after Trump could have done some lifesaving good with early preparations.
