Last year at the Hill's Future of Healthcare Summit, Steve Clemons, the outlet's editor-in-chief, asked Dr. Anthony Fauci to identify his nightmare public health scenario. Fauci responded with, "[A] respiratory borne illness that spreads rapidly, that's new, mainly, there's no background immunity in the population, and that almost turns out to be brand new pandemic influenza."
The nation's leading infectious disease expert said that "when you have a respiratory illness that easily spreads, and has a high degree of morbidity and some degree of mortality, you could have a public health catastrophe."
Dr. Fauci's worst prediction has come true, with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic suggesting an apology during his appearance at this year's summit on Thursday.
Currently, the United States has recorded over 3.1 million cases of COVID-19. And according to Johns Hopkins coronavirus research centre, there are 133,000 deaths since the spread of the virus in the country. The country accounts for roughly one-fourth of the COVID19 cases throughout the world, which made it the worst-hit nation, partly because of a besieged and erratic federal public health response that saw nationwide testing shortages in the pandemic's pivotal early stages.
Several states have a temporary prohibition of activity on their premature reopening plans after the rise of recent cases. However, Dr. Fauci does not recommend a return to statewide sheltering orders. Instead, he proposed to Clemons that we need to get states pausing in their opening process.
Based on the report delivered to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions last June, Dr. Fauci warned that the U.S. could have at least 100,000 new cases per day if the states insist on reopening and don't begin taking health precautions aimed at curbing the spread of the virus into a serious account.
Dr. Fauci was, concerned about four states that account for roughly 50 percent of the fresh cases pouring in Texas, Florida, California, and Arizona.
Last Thursday, Dr. Fauci specifically faulted Florida, which has continued to go through with planned reopenings of beaches and theme parks for summer despite skyrocketing COVID19 cases. He mentioned this scenario during his guesting on FiveThirtyEight's weekly podcast on COVID-19.
"There are some times when despite the guidelines and the recommendations to open up carefully and prudently, some states skipped over those and just opened up too quickly," Dr. Fauci mentioned, adding that Florida had especially, per him, jumped over a couple of checkpoints.
His remarks are a complete contradicting to President Donald Trump's, who has continuously responded to the pandemic with scepticism, chatter, and racism. Perhaps continuing to create presidential plague rallies will help reach and send mixed signals to states trying to navigate this international crisis to safety.
