Mr. Fauci pointed out that the increase in hospitalizations was a worrying trend. (File)
The top infectious disease official in the United States on Friday warned that the “irregularities” in the increase in hospitalizations for coronaviruses reported by some states could become uncontrollable if solid contact tracing regimes were not put in place.
As restrictions on economic activity are lifted, the United States should see an increase in infections, Anthony Fauci told CNN.
“But when you start to see more hospitalizations, it’s a sure sign of a fire that you’re going in the wrong direction,” said Fauci.
To date, more than 114,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States, according to a Reuters count. Half a dozen states in the US are battling an increasing number of coronavirus patients who are filling hospital beds.
Texas and North Carolina announced their highest hospital rates since the start of the pandemic on Friday. But officials from both states point out that they also have some of the lowest death rates from COVID-19.
Fauci pointed out that the increase in hospitalizations was a worrying trend, however, and a sign that “we may have to slow down a bit” when it reopens.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said Friday that while the increase in hospitalizations and new cases in his state is sobering, he was not excluded from going ahead with others reopenings.
Texas has been at the forefront of state efforts to reopen their economies, and Governor Greg Abbott said in an interview with KYTX TV on Friday that it would stay that way “because we have so many hospital beds available of any sick person. “
“For every person in a hospital bed, there are 10 open hospital beds available for them,” said Abbott. “So there is a lot of hospital capacity to be able to manage COVID-19.”
He added that there was “no real need to roll back business opening in the state”.
A handful of states and cities have suspended or slowed reopenings.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown has said she will put the county’s reopening requests on hold after the state reported a record increase in new coronavirus cases on Thursday.
“This is basically a statewide” yellow light “, it’s time to hit pause for a week before any reopening,” said Brown, a Democrat, in a statement.
Utah Republican Governor Gary Herbert on Friday ordered most of the state to suspend reopening while he investigates an increase in the number of cases.
“I don’t want to go ahead and take a step back,” said Herbert of the order, which remains in effect until June 26.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
