The nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci is very concern that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis decision to lift all COVID related restictions in the state could lead to more outbreaks.
“Well that is very concerning to me, I mean, we have always said that, myself and Dr. Deborah Birx, who is the coordinator of the task force, that that is something we really need to be careful about,” Fauci told ABC’s “Good Morning America, “because when you’re dealing with community spread, and you have the kind of congregate setting where people get together, particularly without masks, you’re really asking for trouble. Now’s the time actually to double down a bit, and I don’t mean close.”
Florida remains one of the states hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The state has reported over 700,000 confirmed cases with over 14,000 deaths.
On Monday, the state reported a positivity rate of 4.23%. The World Health Organisation set a benchmark positivity rate of 5 percent or lower for 14 days before moving on to the next phase of reopening i.e opening businesses like restaurant or bars. That’s not the case in Florida. The state’s positivity rate was above 5 percent twice in the last 14 days.
Dr. Fauci insisted that he’s not calling for a complete shutdown of the state, he’s calling for leaders to use “common sense”.
