Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, offered a ray of hope as more states and cities begin to flatten the curve of COVID-19 cases, during an interview on CBS Thursday morning.
When asked whether he can envision a summer where people are going back to large gatherings such as beaches, baseball games, weddings and reunions based on the models, Fauci agreed that “it can be in the cards” but that he says that “with some caution.”
Fauci added that when the country is reopened, which President Trump hopes will happen as soon as possible, we need to plan ahead for the resurgence of infections.
“We have to be prepared that when the infections start to rear their heads again that we have in place a very aggressive and effective way to identify, isolate, contact-trace,” Fauci said. “And make sure we don’t have those spikes that we see now.”
Fauci then circled back to the question of summer gatherings and vacations, saying that the answer is “yes” as long as “we do the things we need to do to prevent the resurgence,” referring to mitigation strategies.
Watch Fauci’s remarks below:
When asked by @TonyDokoupil if he can envision a summer where we're returning to beaches, celebrations, etc., Dr. Fauci said yes, “if we do the things that we need to do to prevent the resurgence" and "identify, isolate, contact, trace," to avoid future spikes. pic.twitter.com/FBExwKcjrY
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) April 9, 2020
In the cards? Yes. Aces and Eights. The dead-man’s hand.
that is grade a dissembling. if we do the things we need to do? that is test, monitor, and track. we are not doing anything close to that. I have to say this is the most reckless thing i have heard him say. he has to know that people hear what they want to hear. very disappointing. we are not doing “gatherings” until the fall, if then.
He was ordered to say this.
Testing. Where is our NATIONAL testing program? Fauci’s vision is just a pipe dream without a robust, comprehensive, nation-wide testing program.
After this initial wave testing and contact tracing is key to getting back to some sort of normal.
We need to be able to test everyone not just the sick. We also need to be able/willing to lock down social gatherings quickly the minute a potential outbreak occurs. Hopefully this could be on a city/county level vs the whole state.
I would also suggest that everyone keep wearing masks when in public, especially in large crowds (sorry if it screws up your tan).
I’d add one more, lock the country down to international travel. Or put some sort of quarantine in place. Is there anyway we could require health documents from 1-2 weeks prior to flying into the country?
We should also check health as soon as international flights land, check for temp and docs and quarantine anyone suspicious.