Public health expert: Americans no longer acting ‘with common purpose’ on pandemic

The director of the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on Sunday said that the current wave of coronavirus cases is worse because Americans are not “acting with common purpose” the way they were in the spring.

“We are seeing this new spike because of the gradual accumulation of choices and policies over the last couple of months,” Tom Inglesby said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“Unlike the springtime when the country really was acting with common purpose around March and April at the start of this pandemic and when the virus was located in comparatively fewer places, the epidemic now is surging in almost every state in the country with the Midwest and the mountain west really being out in front in terms of rapidly accelerating numbers of cases,” he added.

Host Chris Wallace asked Inglesby to respond to critics of mask mandates who said the question should be left up to individuals rather than required.

“We trust government to do things to keep us safe, so we trust government to set speed limits in neighborhoods, so we don’t drive too fast and risk injuring or killing kids who are playing in the street,” Inglesby responded. “That would be the analogy I would use in this case.”

Thirty-seven states have some form of mask mandate in place. President-elect Joe Biden has said he will seek a nationwide equivalent upon taking office.

Wallace also questioned Inglesby on the risks of gathering for Thanksgiving celebrations, with Inglesby strongly recommending against travel.

“Moving through airports or travel hubs will increase the risk but even if they’re driving from point to point we don’t know if we’re infected when we walk into a gathering,” he said. “The message is for everyone is you can’t assume you don’t have the virus and you can’t assume the people whose homes you’re about to enter don’t have the virus.”