It must be emphasized that he (I think) the criterion for ends completely pandemic restrictions. He is willing to do it scale back restrictions on higher levels of community distribution, provided we do not get rid of them completely.
And even Texas has not done that yet. The mask mandate has been lifted and businesses are fully open, but local authorities are in a position to issue new regulations based on the number of recent hospitalizations in their communities. We should not handle restrictions like a light switch, where we go from strict capacity limitations to nothing, Warns Fauci Jake Tapper in the clip below. But Texas did not do that either. They had 75 percent capacity for many businesses before Greg Abbott’s new order granted a full reopening. It was a gradual adjustment.
Still. Just think how difficult it would be to reach a benchmark of 10,000 cases a day – or ‘significantly less’, ideally, in the words of Fauci. The last time we only had 10,000 confirmed cases in a single day in the United States was March 22, 2020, 348 days ago. Apart from a handful of days last May and June, it’s also been almost a full year since we saw less than * 20,000 * cases per day. And remember, the number of scores was recorded at a time when America’s testing ability was still weak, much less extensive than it is now. In fact, last March we contracted well over 10,000 infections; the low-case score was due to the fact that we were still in a primitive stage of detecting them.
Which means it’s possible we’ve seen a full year a day with less than 10,000 infections, possibly since February 2020. Question: Realistically, the number of cases will drop below 10,000 a day, even after everyone taking a vaccine want, got one? Something like 15 percent of Americans insist they will not get the chance under any circumstances. That’s 45 million people. Although many will be immunized in the old-fashioned way and that some are children who are unlikely to be very contagious, we are still talking about a pool of millions that will remain defenseless against the virus. Could they not produce 10,000 infections among themselves? Especially during a more contagious winter season?
A standard mark of 10,000 per day then seems to be a very high measure for the return to full normalcy. Even if we soften the 15 percent of the postponement and convince almost everyone to be vaccinated, it will take many months before the entire population has access to the shot. Assuming we can all finish by September, we’ll probably have to turn around and get boosters all over again, as the virus threatens a surge in colder weather.
Pandemic restrictions are basically forever, in other words. Maybe not strict restrictions, but still. Masks are recommended next winter, restaurants with 75 percent or 50 percent capacity?
Perhaps Americans are getting used to the idea:
The irony is that the same poll has the number who think the pandemic at 60 percent is getting a little or a lot better, the highest it has ever been. Americans are becoming more optimistic! And ook also thanked more that their lives will remain disrupted until next year.
What Fauci and his colleagues in Biden’s team are really worried about are the new variants. It is not certain that we will end up with a fourth wave of the virus driven by more infectious strains, but it is certainly possible:
Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Research and Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said Thursday that the more transmissible B.1.1.7 variant was between 20% and 30% of the viruses obtained in surveillance checks in states including Florida, California and Georgia. These figures – just 1% -2% four weeks ago – are likely to double in ten days, he said.
When the variant appeared in parts of Europe and the Middle East in 50% in surveillance controls, ‘we’ (‘overall’ cases) saw a large increase ‘ – and the same can happen in the US, he said.
“Anything the governors are currently doing to relax all the public health recommendations we have made is just a huge invitation for this virus to spread faster and further,” Osterholm told CNN’s “New Day.”
Take a look at the first few minutes here as Fauci sets out his possibly impossible benchmark. For what it’s worth, Biden does not seem to be offended by the extreme caution his advisers have advised. According to a new AP poll, Sleepy Joe is with 70 percent approval for dealing with the pandemic, including 44 percent among Republicans. This is probably primarily a reaction to the increasing rate of vaccinations, but Biden’s continued emphasis on masks and not reopening too soon is currently no problem for him. We will see what matters look like in two months’ time if and when millions more people have been vaccinated and the White House is still urging governors not to open too soon.
Dr Anthony Fauci says Republicans who are skeptical about Covid-19 vaccines should ex-pres. Trump’s leadership and being vaccinated. “I hope the Republicans will notice that the former president of the United States has been vaccinated, which means he believes in vaccination.” pic.twitter.com/ILj228jt2Q
– The Chief CNN (@TheLeadCNN) March 4, 2021