The leading expert in the US, Dr Anthony Fauci, has warned that it is too early to end the Covid-19 restrictions, despite the fact that Texas and Mississippi lifted mask mandates and business capacity limits this week.
States mitigate restrictions after a decrease in cases, although the decrease at a high rate of 60,000 to 70,000 infections per day begins to flatten.
“We’re going in the right direction, but we just have to keep going a little bit longer,” Fauci told CBS ‘Face the Nation on Sunday.
Public health experts have warned that the US could undermine the progress of vaccines and make thousands of preventable deaths possible by lifting restrictions as the first sign of improvement. More than 524,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the US and January has been the deadliest month of the pandemic so far.
Fauci, Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said the “on and off” restriction jeopardized a further boom.
“It’s not going to be indefinite. “We have to gradually withdraw as our people are vaccinated,” he said.
Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist who advised Biden’s transition team, warned that the US is still “in the eye of the hurricane”.
Osterholm told Meet the Press, NBC, that the situation appears to be improving, but he is concerned that the B117 variant, which is 50% more contagious than other variants in the US, could cause a new boom.
“We need to keep America as safe as we can from this virus by abandoning any of the public health measures we have taken, and we need to get people vaccinated as soon as possible,” said Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
On CNN’s State of the Union, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said he had lifted restrictions in his state due to the declining hospitalization rate.
“Our goal in Mississippi has never been to get rid of the virus … our goal is to make sure we protect the integrity of our health care system,” the Republican said.
Mississippi saw an average of 461 cases per day, down 17% from the average two weeks ago, according to the New York Times. There were 1,240 deaths due to Covid-19 in the state in January, the highest of any month since the pandemic began. About 16% of the residents received a first dose of vaccine.
“The numbers in Mississippi do not justify government intervention,” said Reeves, who urged residents to continue wearing masks in crowded areas.
Other governors have celebrated their mask mandates, saying they will stay until there is a significant improvement in infection rates.
Mike DeWine of Ohio, a Republican, told ABC’s This Week his mask order from the state is being followed by a “significant decrease in business.”
“We saw it last year – these masks really work,” DeWine said.
He said his state would abandon health orders once he had 50 cases per 100,000 people in two weeks. Although rates in Ohio were still high, the state’s vaccination distribution was getting better every day.
“But while we’re doing that, we can ‘t give up the defense,” DeWine said.
The Dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, Ashish Jha, said decisions made by Reeves and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to lift restrictions could slow the process of life and residents’ lives. at risk of infection and death.
“Given how close we are to the finish line, someone who gets infected today and dies within three or four weeks is someone who would be vaccinated in a month,” Jha told ABC. “That’s why it’s urgently needed to last just a little longer.”