Fauci says time to start 'inching' back toward normality in U.S.
U.S. health officials preparing new COVID-19 guidance on many aspects of response
Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says it is time for the United States to start inching back toward normality, despite remaining risks from COVID-19.
In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Fauci said U.S. states are facing tough choices in their efforts to balance the need to protect their citizens from infections and the growing fatigue with a pandemic that has dragged into its third year.
"There is no perfect solution to this," said Fauci, who is U.S. President Joe Biden's top medical adviser and a member of the White House COVID-19 Response Team.
Earlier Wednesday, U.S. health officials said they were preparing new COVID-19 guidance on many aspects of the virus response as the Omicron surge in cases declines.
That followed announcements by several states, including New Jersey, New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware and Oregon, that they were lifting mask mandates for schools or other public settings in the coming weeks.
"The fact that the world and the United States, and particularly certain parts of the United States, are just up to here with COVID — they just really need to somehow get their life back," he said.
"You don't want to be reckless and throw everything aside, but you've got to start inching toward that."
- Second Opinion | COVID-19 vaccine mandates have worked in Canada — but they're harder than ever to justify
- What we know — and what we still need to learn — about long COVID
Even with the positive trends, COVID numbers remain high, with some 2,200 Americans dying each day, most of them unvaccinated.The current seven-day daily average of COVID-19 cases is about 147,000, a decrease of some 40 per cent from the previous week, according to government data. Over the same period, hospital admissions fell about 28 per cent, to 9,500 per day.
Fauci acknowledged that individual states' revised policies could involve trade-offs and some unnecessary infections, but hewing too closely to strict prevention policies was also harmful.
"Is the impact on mental health, is the impact on development of kids, is the impact on schools — is that balanced against trying to be totally pristine and protecting against infection? I don't have the right answer to that," he said.
