On Tuesday, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that a second wave of the novel coronavirus will be far more deadly because it is likely to coincide with the start of flu season.
What We Know:
- “There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in an interview with The Washington Post. “And when I’ve said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don’t understand what I mean.”
- He advised thta having two simultaneous respiratory outbreaks would put unimaginable strain on the health-care system. The first wave of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has already killed more than 42,000 people across the country. It has already overwhelmed hospitals and revealed gaping shortages in test kits, ventilators, and protective equipment for health-care workers.
- In an open interview, Redfield said federal and state officials need to use the coming months to prepare for what lies ahead.
- As stay-at-home orders are lifted, officials need to stress the continued importance of social distancing. Officials also need to need to massively scale up their ability to identify the infected through testing and find everyone they interact with through contact tracing.
The Former CDC Director Tom Frieden has estimated that as many as 300,000 contact tracers would be needed in the United States to effectively track the virus.
