Dr Anthony Fauci, a leading
infectious disease expert in the United States, stated on Wednesday that
despite the risk of COVID-19, it is time for the country to return to normal.
In an interview, Fauci said that states in the United States are
faced with difficult choices in balancing the need to protect citizens from
infections with rising fatigue from a pandemic that is now in its third year.
President Joe Biden's senior medical adviser and a member of the
White House COVID-19 Response Team, Anthony Fauci, stated, "There is no
perfect solution to this."
As the Omicron surge in cases fades, U.S. health officials said
they were preparing new COVID-19 guidance on many aspects of the virus
response.
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That followed announcements by several states, including New
Jersey, New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware and Oregon, lifting mask
mandates for schools or other public settings in the coming weeks.
"The fact that the world, and particularly certain parts of
the United States, are just up to here with COVID - they just really need to
get their lives back," he said.
"You don't want to be rash and toss everything away, but you
have to start heading in that direction."
Despite the recent trends, COVID deaths remain high, with over
2,200 Americans dying each day, most of whom are unvaccinated.
According to government data, the current seven-day daily average
of COVID-19 cases is over 147,000, down 40% from the previous week. In
addition, hospital admissions dropped by about 28% to 9,500 per day during the
same period.
Fauci acknowledged that states' revised policies might result in
tradeoffs and unnecessary infections, but he also warned that following too
rigidly strict prevention policies might be harmful.
"Is the impact on mental health, is the impact on the development of kids, is the impact on schools - is that balanced against trying to be pristine and protecting against infection? I'm afraid I don't know how to respond to it, "he said