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- People fear that the coronavirus pandemic will prevent life from returning to normal for several months, if not years.
- Dr Anthony Fauci addressed these concerns in a recent interview, providing a true estimate of when we might beat the coronavirus and get back to normal.
- He said the timing depends on the implementation of certain public health measures and a vaccination program that must be effective enough to reduce the rate of transmission.
The novel coronavirus pandemic already feels like it’s been around for years. But the world has only been living with this new pathogen for less than eight months, and we are a long way from the final rounds of this battle. Some people hastily returned to normal life as soon as lockdowns were lifted, abandoning protective measures that could reduce the rate of COVID-19 infection. This rapid return to normal life has fueled new outbreaks that have turned out to be even bigger than before, and several US states are proof that the economy should not be reopened during a frightening pandemic.
Things cannot and will not return to the way they were before until the rate of transmission is drastically reduced. This can happen once people start playing by the rules again and the first vaccines start to spread more widely. But it will take more than a year for the United States to return to normal. The estimate comes from Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading health expert and one of the world’s most trusted voices on all things COVID-19.
Bill Gates has said in a few recent interviews that he believes the United States will end COVID-19 outbreaks by the end of 2021, as soon as vaccines begin to reduce infection rates. “You have to admit that there have been billions of dollars in economic damage and a lot of debt, but the innovation pipeline on scaling up diagnostics, on new therapies, on vaccines is actually enough. impressive, ”Gates said. “And it makes me feel like, for the rich world, we should largely be able to end this thing by the end of 2021, and for the world in general by the end of 2022. . “
Gates isn’t the foremost expert in the field, but he’s heavily involved in COVID-19 vaccination efforts and other medical programs through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Fauci’s estimate is not far from Gates. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) appeared on PBS NewsHour where he was asked if the COVID-19 pandemic will end before 2024. This estimate comes from a recent article on the health crisis by medical historian Howard Markel.
Fauci acknowledged that if not managed properly, the coronavirus pandemic could “last for a few years.”
“However, we have some things within our grasp and in our power that I believe will make this projection inaccurate,” Fauci said. “And that is, we can control that from a public health point of view. If you synergize and overlap good, strong, prudent, and prudent public health measures with an effective vaccine, it does not have to be 100% effective. If you get a vaccine until 2021, throughout the year, I believe by the end of 2021, we’ll be as good as we can get back to normal. “
Fauci clarified that a return to normal does not mean the virus will be eradicated.
“The only virus that we have eradicated in the history of the planet has been human smallpox,” he said. “But we can get it under control enough that it’s so low that it doesn’t interfere with the kind of normal life we want to restore the economy, get back to work.”
Until the vaccines are ready, Fauci says the United States has a chance to reduce outbreaks “if we come together in a unified and cohesive way.
“Uniform and universal wearing of masks. Physical and social distancing. Avoid the crowds. Things on the outside are always better than things on the inside. And wash your hands as often as possible, ”he said, adding that people should stay away from bars.
The full interview is available at this link, while Markel’s piece is available at The New Yorker.
Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he even knew it, he was sharing his take on tech with readers around the world. Whenever he doesn’t write about gadgets, he miserably fails to walk away from them, although he desperately tries. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
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