Dr Fauci says US can learn from Asian countries in battle against COVID-19

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Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: “When they closed, they closed like, ‘Bang! When we closed, it was never at the level of Asian countries.

What can the United States do differently?

Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, delivered candid messages to the audience during an online video interview with actor Matthew McConaughey. There are three main reasons why many island countries and Asian countries, such as New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea, have been successful in controlling the coronavirus, he said.

Besides social distancing and masks, he said those countries have taken many correct approaches to dealing with their respective epidemics and, as a result, have created the right environment to start opening up their economies again. Public health and economic health are not mutually exclusive, he added, nor a matter of either. This, Fauci said, is what we can learn from these countries:

1. Outside, it’s better than inside: In an Instagram (FB) interview on Thursday, McConaughey asked Fauci if some small island nations are having more success against the coronavirus because residents are spending more time outdoors. He replied: “It is conceivable that this is the case.” Fauci added that the outdoors is best for sports, restaurants and school classes.

Fauci also said that aiming for 100% herd immunity – as Sweden has attempted – instead of shutting down schools and businesses to flatten the curve of new COVID-19 cases, would have dire consequences for the American people. . “If everyone has contracted it, a lot of people will die,” the doctor said. “The death toll would be huge and totally unacceptable.”

Anders Tegnell, the Swedish epidemiologist who orchestrated the plan, admitted the country had made a mistake. “If we were to encounter the same disease with the same knowledge that we have today, I think our answer would be somewhere between what Sweden has done and what the rest of the world has done,” he said. he said in June when the country hit Europe’s highest death rate.

In a live Facebook chat with Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, Fauci said windows should be kept open on school buses and students should wear their masks whenever possible. “If you look at the super-spreader events that have happened, they’re almost always inside,” he said, citing major outbreaks in nursing homes, meat-packing warehouses, prisons. and weddings.

See: COVID case reports multiply on college campuses as schools bring in students for in-person classes

2. Stop decisively to stop epidemics: And asked why so many Asian countries have had relative success in controlling COVID-19 outbreaks, Fauci said, “When they closed, they closed like, ‘Bang!’ When we closed, it was never at the level of Asian countries. Fauci said the stop / start and disparate approaches to shutdown in the United States were not working either.

Fauci also said it was not a simple choice between public health and economic health. “The faster you get together and get off, the faster you get back to normal. We are all in the same boat. Unless we do this together, we are not going to master this, ”he said. “Thinking that you can ignore the biologic and turn the economy back on, that’s not going to happen. You have to do both. “

The United States cannot afford a prolonged resurgence of the virus now or in the fall, medical professionals say. On the one hand, it’s harder to get people to practice social distancing and stay home again, especially after having already obeyed stay-at-home orders at the start of the first wave of the virus. The southern and western states saw a spike in cases after easing measures.

Second, the effect on the economy could push the United States into a prolonged recession, even greater than that already predicted by some economists. Third, the flu season will already be upon us in winter and these symptoms are easily mistaken for those of COVID-19. Fourth, too few people will be immune to COVID-19 after this first wave ends to support herd immunity.

Actor Matthew McConaughey interviewed infectious disease specialist Dr Anthony Fauci on Instagram last Thursday evening.

Also see: Dr Fauci tells MarketWatch: I wouldn’t get on a plane or eat in a restaurant

3. Contract tracing helps stop community transmission. Fauci said it was crucial to create the conditions for authorities to conduct contact tracing and prevent community transmission. He used sport as an example. “If you’re in a red zone where the virus level is so high, you can certainly try to exercise normally, but there’s a good chance you will infect people,” he says.

Young people who play or attend sporting events are more likely to become “super spreaders” and behave as if they don’t have the virus and be the source of community transmissions, Fauci said in the interview with 40 minutes. “A lot of them will be young, so they won’t get sick. They go into the community. At this point, he said, the origin of the spread is much more difficult to trace.

Countries like South Korea, New Zealand and China – where the virus is believed to have originated from a food market in Wuhan late last year – appear to have had more success in the fight against COVID – 19. Earlier this week, for example, New Zealand acted quickly to lock down Auckland after COVID returned after 102 days without reporting a new infection.

“Act like you have COVID, and like the people around you have COVID,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a press conference. The island nation has acted swiftly and decisively to respond to the pandemic, banning non-New Zealand nationals from traveling from China before there are any cases in the country, and nationals who have arrived from China have been forced to quarantine for 14 days.

Coronavirus Update: COVID-19 has now killed at least 774,053 people globally and the United States ranks 10th globally for deaths per 100,000 people (51.5), according to Johns Hopkins University. On Tuesday, the United States has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases (5,438,325) and deaths (170,497) in the world. Worldwide, the confirmed cases now number 21,885,268.

The Dow Jones Industrial Index (DJIA) lost ground on Monday, while the S&P 500 (SPX) edged up and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) posted a triple-digit gain as investors hope for progress on the vaccine front and a new wave of unemployment. benefits of the second round of the congressional pandemic relief program.

AstraZeneca (AZN) in association with the University of Oxford; BioNTech SE (BNTX) and its partner Pfizer (PFE); GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Johnson & Johnson (JNJ); Merck & Co. (ID: MERK); Moderna (MRNA); and Sanofi (SAN) are among those currently working on COVID-19 vaccines.

Gallery: Dr Fauci’s 10 Most Important Coronavirus Predictions You Should Know (Better Life)