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Experts urged Americans not to travel for Thanksgiving family reunions this week, even as millions were about to defy advice, as the United States crossed the threshold of over 12 million. coronavirus case.
Disturbing warnings came as Donald Trump appeared to admit the coronavirus was ‘savage’ across the United States, contrary to his campaign-long claims that the virus would ‘go away’ or ‘go away’ and, more recently, that the country “bypassed the turning point” of the pandemic.
As new Covid-19 infections in the United States approached 200,000 a day, Trump tweeted on Saturday evening to insist that things were also bad outside the United States, posting: “The Fake News is not talking about the causes ‘Covid’ to be unleashed. all over the world, not just the United States. “
On Sunday, Dr Anthony Fauci, the leading infectious disease expert in the United States and a senior public health official on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said the country was in “a very, very difficult situation to all levels ”with a dramatic increase in infections.
He followed official government advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for Americans on Friday not to travel and to reunite with relatives and friends during the Thanksgiving holiday next Thursday.
Fauci said that, more than the risk of flying himself, it was the busy airports that made him more concerned.
“You’re in a crowded airport, you’re in line, not everyone is wearing masks. It puts you in danger… that’s what’s going to cause us even more problems, ”he said.
Fauci warned of “seemingly innocent encounters” indoors with family and friends.
Up to 50 million people are expected to travel by various means this week to celebrate Thanksgiving, potentially producing a new outbreak of infections that will manifest itself a few weeks later and also threaten the Christmas holidays, Fauci warned. .
Republican Gov. of Maryland Larry Hogan said “we’re quite worried” that Americans are considering defying advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and traveling for Thanksgiving and rallying under the circumstances. dangerous.
“The family reunion is the number one transmission event,” he said, warning that people let their guard down during such events, do not wear masks properly and break social distancing rules.
The United States has recorded one million new cases of coronavirus per week over the past two weeks and now has 12.1 million cases and a death toll of 256,000, the highest number in the world, according to the center. research on the Johns Hopkins coronavirus.
Fauci added that he understood that the public was weary of the restrictions, stayed away from others and refrained from traveling, but reiterated that mitigation measures such as wearing masks, washing their hands and social distancing are effective.
And limiting people in restaurants and avoiding or closing bars “can smooth the curve,” he said.
As Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser to the government’s Operation Warp Speed vaccine development and distribution program, said on Sunday that if the first coronavirus vaccine is approved for use next month, the first Americans will be outside clinical trials. will be vaccinated on December 11 or 12. .
And if 70% of America’s population can be vaccinated in May, that’s about when Americans could get back to normal and put the pandemic behind it.
Fauci urged Americans not to travel and come together and make sure they take the right steps, saying, “If you can stay in this, we can get by.”
With successful vaccines behind the scenes, he said: “Help is on the way, so you shouldn’t view this as a dire situation.”
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