As COVID-19 cases and deaths climb in multiple hot spots in the U.S., the nation’s leading infectious disease expert recommends they take a timeout.
“You don’t necessarily have to go all the way back to a complete shutdown,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Friday on Washington Post Live. “But you certainly have to call a pause and maybe even a backing up a bit.”
Fauci said the issue involves locations that began reopening without first meeting specific targets, such as having 14 days of a decline in coronavirus cases.
So, “time out and maybe go back to a prior checkpoint, and from that point, try to proceed in a very measured, prudent way, according to the guidelines,” he advised.
Universally, to keep COVID-19 under control, Fauci said, everyone should return to and maintain the “fundamentals.”
- Wear a facial covering when outside the home.
- Remember that being outside is better than indoors.
- Avoid crowds.
- Keep social distancing.
- Practice good hand hygiene.
“There are some relatively easy things that can be done to help in getting to the goal of where we want to be,” Fauci said.
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