US approaching coronavirus peak, CDC director says

Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on Thursday night said that the U.S. is closing in on the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.

“I think we’re coming to the peak. … We can see the other side of the curve,” the doctor said in an appearance on CNN. Redfield credited the country’s “aggressive social distancing” techniques for lowering the expected mortality rate.

Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a key member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, said this week that the expected death toll in the U.S. has fallen to around 60,000. Previously, the task force had signaled that it could range from 100,000 to 240,000.

As of Friday, there were over 466,000 confirmed cases of the virus in the U.S. and over 16,600 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Still, Redfield urged that there was still work to be done, saying that America’s public health infrastructure needs to be augmented before the country and its beleaguered economy can begin to reopen.  

“We’ve got to build within the community the sense of confidence that it’s the time to get back, it’s a time to go back to work, it’s time to open up some of the businesses,” he added.

He added that it is important for health facilities to be prepared and steps to be taken to ensure that there is not another outbreak when the economy reopens.