Premature end to US state lockdowns might lead to needless death, Fauci tells senators
14 May, 2020
Leading US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci on Tuesday warned Congress a premature lifting of lockdowns could result in additional outbreaks of the deadly coronavirus, which includes killed 80,000 Americans and brought the economy to its knees.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a US Senate panel that the virus epidemic isn't yet in order in areas of the country.
"I think we're moving in the right direction, however the right direction does not mean we have at all total control of this outbreak," Fauci said through the 3-1/2-hour hearing.
He urged states to follow health experts' recommendations to hold back for signs, including a declining number of new infections, before reopening.
President Donald Trump has been encouraging states to end a weeks-long shuttering of major pieces of their economies. But senators heard a sobering assessment from Fauci, when asked by Democrats in regards to a premature opening of the economy.
"There is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you might not exactly have the ability to control and, actually paradoxically, will cost you, not only resulting in some suffering and death that may be avoided, but could even cost you on the path to try to get monetary recovery," Fauci said of premature steps.
The veteran doctor, who spent some time working under Republican and Democratic administrations and is a coronavirus adviser to the present White House, noted progress some in the fight a virus that the medical world continues to be trying to understand.
He mentioned a slowing in the growth of cases in hotspots such as New York, even while other areas of the united states were seeing spikes.
NY Governor Andrew Cuomo said at his daily briefing that his state alone needed $61 billion in federal stimulus to greatly help reopen its economy. He called on Congress and Trump to aid legislation that could address funding gaps, a problem he stressed was dogging Republican and Democratic governors.
"This economy has been damaged through no fault of anyone," said Cuomo, a Democrat. "But to understand this economy back up again and running, we will need an intelligent stimulus bill from Washington."
Some states curently have begun reopening their economies and others have announced plans to phase that in from mid-May, even as opinion polls show most Americans are worried about resuming such businesses too soon.
NJ Governor Phil Murphy said on Tuesday that he designed to announce some tentative moves toward reopening even thought his state, by some measures, happens to be the most serious coronavirus danger zone in america.
Restrictions currently set up allow only essential services to operate. Murphy said any changes would be incremental and dependant on progress in curbing the spread of the virus.
Cordial
Tuesday's Senate hearing was more cordial than many of Congress's undertakings recently, with members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee addressing the non-partisan health specialists politely.
Democrats on the committee largely concentrated on the risks of opening the US economy now, while Republicans downplayed that notion, saying an extended shutdown could have serious negative impacts on human health and the health of the economy.
Asked whether college students can feel safe if classes resume on campuses in August or September, Fauci said that expecting cure or vaccine to maintain place by then would be "a bridge too far."
Instead, schools and students would need to depend after expanded testing for coronavirus, tracing of those who have been in contact with infected persons and safe hygiene practices, witnesses said.
The COVID-19 respiratory disease caused by the brand new coronavirus has infected a lot more than 1.3 million Americans and killed a lot more than 80,600.
Fauci, 79, testified remotely in a room lined with books as he self-quarantines after he might have come into contact with either of two members of the White House staff who were diagnosed with COVID-19.
Medical researchers have already been scrambling to find not only an efficient vaccine for coronavirus but also drugs to treat it until a vaccine involves market.
Fauci noted only "modest" results in tests of Gilead Sciences Inc's remdesivir drug on hospitalized patients.
"All roads back to work and back again to school tell you testing and that what our country has done so far on testing is impressive, however, not almost enough," Lamar Alexander, the Republican chairman of the Senate committee, told the hearing.
Alexander, who's self-quarantining in his home state of Tennessee for two weeks after a member of his staff tested positive, chaired the hearing virtually.
Trump, who previously made the effectiveness of the economy central to his pitch for his November re-election, has encouraged states to reopen businesses that were deemed non-essential amid the pandemic.
Senator Patty Murray, the senior committee Democrat, criticizing areas of the administration's response to the pandemic, said Americans "need leadership, they desire a plan, they want honesty and they need it now, before we reopen."
Republican Senator Mitt Romney, who has clashed with Trump previously, did so again on Tuesday, when he said through the hearing, "I find our testing record nothing to celebrate whatsoever."
Source: www.thejakartapost.com
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