Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday evening said it will likely be “weeks” before the effect of efforts to mitigate and slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak can be determined.
“Just projecting about what we know, what containment and mitigation does, we almost certainly are having an effect right now even as we speak,” Dr. Fauci said in an appearance on Fox News. “The degree of the effect and how it’s going to impact on that curve will likely take several weeks.”
Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, reiterated that the Trump administration put in place a 15-day mitigation strategy that will likely be extended, but he said they re-evaluate things on a day-to-day basis.
He re-upped the call for young people to protect themselves and assume responsibility for protecting others.
“It’s a two-part component,” Dr. Fauci said. “It isn’t just sequester and isolate those who are at risk. It’s to get the rest of the population to kind of shield them by not getting infected themselves and inadvertently infecting those individuals.”
There are now more than 6,400 coronavirus cases in the United States — a number that could spike even more quickly as more testing becomes available.
The administration has recommended that people avoid gatherings of more than 10 people for 15 days, and states and localities across the country have adopted their own restrictions, including the temporary closings of bars, restaurants, theaters and gyms.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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