There are differences in how individual U.S. states have treated coronavirus as a “major weakness” in U.S. treatment of the pandemic, Drs. Anthony Fauci has said.
“States often get a lot of opportunity to do things the way they want to, as opposed to responding to federal orders, which are rarely issued,” the director said. National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, he told BBC Radio 4 in an article starting on Monday.
“While that may have worked well for certain things, when dealing with a pandemic, you don’t know the difference between the border of New York and New Jersey, or Florida and Georgia, or Texas and Oklahoma … you need to have a degree of consistency in your response, “he said, referring to closing and reopening directions.
“What we have been has been very different with states doing things differently in an inconsistent way. A number of factors have led to the United States, unfortunately for us, has been the toughest country in the world, but I believe that differences in how states do things have been a major weakness in our response, “he said.
There have been at least 19.1 million cases of coronavirus in the U.S., and at least 333,129 Americans have been killed by the virus, according to the number of cases at Johns Hopkins University.
“Politics” of public health measures delayed response: Fauci also said that sarcastic politics was a feature in the U.S. response to the pandemic.
“Unfortunately, this year, I think it is no secret to anyone who is following what is going on that there is a huge amount of segregation in this country,” he said. explaining that this had made it difficult “at another time, and under different circumstances” to be seen as simple public health issues.
“But now what we are seeing is something of politics, where … things like wearing masks are going to be a political statement, where … keeping away from crowds to become political statement, that has made it a major problem as we have dealt with the unprecedented historical revolution, “he said.
Fauci said it is vital to continue public health measures so that coronavirus vaccines are common worldwide – not just in developed countries.
“Until we get that protection, we are always challenged,” he said.