Birx Says U.S. Coronavirus Epidemic Is in a New Phase – The New York Times

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Asked if he was recommending a national mask mandate, Admiral Giroir said, “The public health message is we’ve got to have mask-wearing.” He added: “If we don’t do that, and if we don’t limit the indoor crowded spaces, the virus will continue to run.”

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Another guest on CNN on Sunday, Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, said that, in many areas where cases are surging, the availability of tests was badly lagging. “In 18, 20 states, the number of tests being done is actually falling and falling because our testing system is under such strain that we just can’t even deliver the test today that we were doing two weeks ago,” he said. “That’s very concerning because when cases are rising, and your number of tests are falling, that’s a recipe for disaster.”

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Admiral Giroir defended the nation’s testing program, noting it has exponentially been increased in recent months although there are still delays in getting results. He said that both testing and contact tracing efforts were crucial responses, but not particularly helpful in large, communitywide outbreaks.

“When you have a widespread, multifocal outbreak where many people are asymptomatic, testing and tracing are of limited utility versus public health policy measures like mask-wearing, like closing indoor crowded spaces,” Admiral Giroir said. “So, yes, contact tracing is important, but it’s much less important right now than the public policy mitigation measures.”

Despite encouraging signs in some states fighting to contain the summer outbreaks, Admiral Giroir said, the true cost of those infections will only be clear in the weeks to come: “We are very concerned and this is a very serious point, and deaths will continue to increase for the next few weeks” because deaths tend to lag behind case counts.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/02/health/dr-birx-coronavirus-phase.html

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