Dr Deborah Birx, a senior physician and response coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, on Sunday said that the United States is in a new phase in its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and added that the deadly virus is more widespread than when it was first reported in the country earlier this year.
Birx urged people to follow public health guidelines as cases continue to climb in many parts of the United States.
“What we’re seeing today is different from March and April,” Birx was quoted as saying in a CNN report. “It is extraordinarily widespread—it’s into the rural as equal urban areas.”
As per data from the Johns Hopkins University, the US has reported more than 4.6 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 154,000 deaths.
Brix also said, “If you’re in multi-generational households, and there’s an outbreak in your rural area or your city, you need to really consider wearing a mask at home, assuming that you’re positive if you have individuals in your households with comorbidities.” She added that the projections for a death toll by end of the year depends on how many states accelerate and maintain their mitigation efforts.
“Public health is called public health because it has a public component, and we need all of the public to help us get in control of this virus,” she said and urged citizens to avoid crowded gatherings, wear masks and practice social distancing.
Birx said people in rural communities are “not immune or protected” from it.
US Food and Drug Administrator Dr Scott Gottlieb warned last month that the coronavirus death toll could double to 300,000 deaths by the end of the year if the country doesn’t change its course of fighting the infection.
She conceded to CDC guidance about school re-openings, while she said areas with high caseloads and active community spread should “distance learn at this moment so we can get this epidemic under control”.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticised Birx as she defended the federal government’s handling of the pandemic, including her own.
Pelosi accused her and President Donald Trump of spreading disinformation, adding that she lacked confidence in Birx.
Birx said she respected Pelosi and her dedication to the American people. She also condemned a July New York Times article that characterized her as delivering misleadingly optimistic reports about the spread of the virus.
Paediatrician and Admiral Brett Giroir said that while there are some promising medical interventions, hydroxychloroquine—an anti-malaria drug—is not one of them.
He cited other more promising medical treatments such as Remdesivir and steroids, as well as ongoing work with immune plasma and vaccine development.
Giroir also emphasised on the importance of wearing masks and avoiding large gatherings. He added that states like Arizona that have implemented such policies and are seeing a downward trajectory of cases.
Giroir, too, said that deaths will continue to increase because of mortality lags by several weeks.
