Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, said there is some good news about recent novel coronavirus cases — but there’s still a long battle ahead.
What’s going on
Jha told CNN that the United States — which has seen 6 million coronavirus cases and more than 183,000 deaths — has seen some good news when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic.
- “(Daily) cases have come down. Deaths are starting to decline. Hospitalizations are down. This is good news, and it’s largely because of smart policies in Texas and Arizona and Florida around masking and closing bars.”
However, Jha said there’s still a long road ahead, especially in areas seeing new cases.
- “But there are still parts of the country where things are both bad and even getting worse. In the Dakotas, in Kansas and other states, we still see a lot of cases. And as a nation, we’re still seeing a lot of cases of coronavirus. So progress, but we have a long way to go.”
Americans can defeat the coronavirus, Dr. Birx says
Dr. Deborah Birx — one of President Donald Trump’s closest advisers on the White House Coronavirus Task Force — said Americans shouldn’t wait for the COVID-19 vaccine, as I wrote for Deseret.com.
- “Do the right thing today. Because if we do the right thing today, we go into the fall with much fewer cases.”
- “Right now, we gain freedom through wearing our masks and socially distancing.
- “We know we can’t always be perfect. We know that we’ll put this message out about private gatherings and something will happen and you’ll realize you have been in a situation, you’ve been around people, you didn’t have your mask on. That is the time to make sure you’re protecting others in your household and around you by wearing a mask when you’re around them, even if they’re family.”