Shutterstock
Dr. Anthony Fauci has a warning against prematurely reopening the country amid the coronavirus pandemic. While preparing comments to be presented to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Fauci warned of “needless suffering and death” that could be a result of lifting precautions too early.
The 74-year-old Fauci has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and one of the most respected voices during the coronavirus pandemic.
Fauci, who has advised six presidents, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2008.
“If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines to Open America Again, then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country,” Dr. Fauci said, via the New York Post. “This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.”
States across the country have slowly begun Phase 1 of reopening procedures in areas where COVID-19 is less prominent.
The coronavirus mainly comes from animals and a majority of those who were infected early either worked at or frequently visited the Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, according to The Guardian. The virus is similar to Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers).
The Wuhan coronavirus is transmitted from person to person through “droplet transmission.” That means an infected person can pass the virus by sneezing or coughing on another person as well as by direct contact.
While a majority of the cases have been detected in the United States and China — with more than 81,500 deaths in the United States and more than 1 million confirmed cases — it has now reached many countries around the world. It has also been confirmed in Italy, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and many other eastern countries.
