Fauci ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ US Can Gradually Reopen Next Month As Virus Outbreak Flattens

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, attends the daily briefing of the White House Coronavirus Task Force in the James Brady Briefing Room in Washington on April 10, 2020. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, has suggested that the United States may begin relaxing stay-at-home orders as early as next month amid the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.

Fauci told CNN’s “State of the Union“ on April 12 that there are signs the outbreak ”not only has flattened, it’s starting to turn the corner“ and that the country could open ”in some ways“ in May, noting that there is a ”need to try and get back to normal.”

“I think it could probably start at least in some ways maybe next month,” Fauci said. “We are hoping by the end of the month we can look around and say, ‘OK, is there any element here that we can safely and cautiously start pulling back on.’ If so, do it. If not, then just continue to hunker down,” he said.

Fauci’s comments come just days after CCP virus deaths in the United States surpassed 2,000 on Friday, the highest daily tally to date, with the most significant numbers in and around New York City. Its tally has now overtaken Italy’s with 532,879 confirmed cases and 20,577 deaths attributed to the disease so far.

However, the infectious disease expert said that while New York has the highest number of deaths, he was now “cautiously optimistic” because admissions into hospitals and intensive care had begun to decline, even in New York. He added that the available data suggested the outbreak “not only flattened, it’s starting to turn the corner.”

“When you look at the admissions, the hospitalizations, the intensive care, and the need to intubate, that not only has flattened, it’s starting to turn the corner,” he said. “So that’s what we’re hopeful [for], and it’s cautious optimism that we are seeing that decrease, and if you look at the patterns of the curves in other countries, once you turn that corner, hopefully, we’ll see a very sharp decline.”

Despite expressing optimism about the prospect of people across the United States returning to healthy daily life, Fauci stressed the process would be a gradual one that was “not going to be a light switch,” and would depend on which region you’re in. “It’s going to be depending where you are in the country, the nature of the outbreak that you already experienced, and the threat of an outbreak that you may not have experienced,” Fauci said. “I think its going to have to be something that is not ‘one size fits all,’” he said.

Again stressing the need for slow and steady process in getting back into daily life, Fauci warned, “If you just say, ‘OK, it’s whatever, May 1, click,’ turn the switch on, obviously, if you do it in an all-or-none way, there’s an extraordinary risk of there being a rebound.”

On Friday, President Donald Trump told reporters at a White House press conference that he will soon announce a new task force dedicated to opening up the United States for business, as he stressed his desire to get the United States open “as soon as possible.”

The task force would consist of “great business leaders, doctors, and a great group of people,” Trump said, adding: “This country was meant to be open and vibrant and great. Not with people staying in ... I would love to open it. I’m not determined to do anything, but the facts will determine what I do.”