Former FDA chief says US could reverse pandemic in coming weeks

Former FDA commissioner Dr Scott Gottlieb said the United States could cross the COVID-19 pandemic in the coming weeks – and follow the same trajectory as the UK. Uni, which has started to see cases plunge again.

Gottlieb said the US appeared to be around three or four weeks behind the UK in the latest wave of cases, due to the highly contagious Delta variant.

“If you look at the UK they seem to have turned a corner in the last seven days. You’re starting to see a downward trajectory on cases, ”Gottlieb said on CBS’s“ Face the Nation ”.

“But if the UK is a guide, we may be further along in this epidemic and hope to take a turn in the next two or maybe three weeks,” Gottlieb added.

The UK recorded its fifth day of declining cases on Sunday with more than 29,000 new infections, down about 39% from the previous week, officials at Public Health England said.

Meanwhile, the United States saw its seven-day average of new infections jump 53% on Thursday from the previous week, according to officials at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gottlieb said the United States is probably “much further along in this outbreak than we are picking up,” suggesting there is more spread of the virus than is currently known.

“I believe there are more viruses than we are catching right now. There are probably a lot of people with mild to subclinical infection because more of the infection occurs in a younger population who are less likely to become very symptomatic, ”said Gottlieb.