The U.S. is preparing for a world where COVID-19 is not a crisis, the White House said Wednesday.
The news: White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said Wednesday that the U.S. has made “tremendous progress” against COVID-19, per The Washington Post.
- So many tools to fight COVID-19 — masks, treatments and vaccines — that the White House is planning for the next phase.
What he said: “As a result of all this progress and the tools we all have, we’re moving toward a time when covid isn’t a crisis but is something we can protect against and treat,” Zients said Wednesday. “The president and our covid team are actively planning for this future.”
A look ahead: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House medical adviser on the coronavirus, said Wednesday in an interview with Reuters that the coronavirus pandemic is still leading to thousands of infections per day. But the U.S. is getting closer to normality.
- “You don’t want to be reckless and throw everything aside, but you’ve got to start inching towards that.”
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, still urged caution with the pandemic as a number of people — including the immunocompromised — remain at risk for serious COVID-19 infection, according to CNBC.
- “We must consider hospital capacity as an additional important barometer. We want to give people a break from things like mask wearing when these metrics are better and then have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen,” she said.