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A member of Joe Biden’s COVID-19 advisory team on Sunday rejected claims the president-elect would force the country to another round of strict lockdowns as daily coronavirus cases soar to new heights.
“We are not in favor of a nationwide lockdown and believe there is no scenario unless – there is just no scenario because we can get it under control,” Dr. Atul Gawande at ABC “This Week”.
Gawande was specifically asked to clarify the recent remarks of his fellow Biden adviser, Dr Michael Osterholm, who pioneered the idea of a four to six week lockdown of small and medium-sized businesses to reduce infections.
Gawande countered that so much had been learned since the start of the epidemic and the first lockdown in April, that more localized measures were now preferable, including reducing capacity in public spaces like restaurants.
“You can look at New York City for example, where, zip code by zip code, you can deploy different restrictions in order to control the virus and that’s pretty effective,” Gawande said.
“We don’t need to close the shelters in place nationwide,” he added.
Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease & Policy at the University of Minnesota, created a political maelstrom last week by suggesting the nation is entering another protracted economic lockdown and the government replacing people’s wages.
Biden’s transition team and public health advisers cannot speak to the White House Coronavirus Task Force and other government officials as President Trump continues to battle the election results.
Dr Anthony Fauci told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday that the task force should meet with Biden’s team before they inherit the worst public health crisis in a century.
Many states across the country are returning to lockdown after the United States added a record 184,000 new COVID-19 infections on Friday. Hospitalizations have also reached 68,000 people, the highest number since the virus arrived on US shores nine months ago.
Gawande insisted it was “vital” for Biden’s team to start receiving information about the pandemic.
“It is in the interest of the nation that the transition team receives the threat assessments of which it is aware,” he said. “There is a lot of information to convey. He can’t wait until the last minute. “
In the meantime, Biden’s science advisers will meet with vaccine makers such as Pfizer as the government now focuses on rolling out the company’s promising vaccine candidate.
“We will begin these consultations this week,” Ron Klain, Biden’s new chief of staff, told NBC’s “Meet the Press”. “We need to talk to them as quickly as possible.”
“It’s great to have a vaccine, but vaccines don’t save lives: vaccinations save lives. And that means you have to get this vaccine in the arms of people across the country. It’s a giant logistics project, ”he added.
Trump announced on Friday that the vaccine could be distributed to Americans as early as April. However, New York will be at the back of the line, Trump said, because Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to give it his seal of approval first.
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