Anthony Fauci admits US 'could have saved more lives' with early shutdown amid COVID-19

While the coronavirus outbreak continues to sweep across the globe, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, member of US task force for COVID-19, Dr Anthony Fauci has said they “obviously could have saved lives” if the government had started the mitigation processes earlier. Fauci made the statements while talking to an international media broadcaster after the COVID-19 death toll in the US, not only surpassed that of Italy but also showed a spike from 10,000 to 20,000 in nearly five days.

On April 12, Fauci even confessed that there was “a lot of pushback” that took place in the initial stage of the pandemic to introduce social distancing measures and for the country to respond more effectively. Further explaining the possibility if voters will be able to go out physically and cast a ballot for the 2020 presidential elections in November, Fauci gave a mixed response while raising caution that disorganised ending of lockdown might lead to a rebound. As of April 13, the US has reported at least 560,433 confirmed cases of coronavirus with 22,115 fatalities. 

After originating from China’s “wet markets”, the coronavirus has now claimed over 114,335 lives worldwide as of April 13. According to the tally by international news agency, the pandemic has now spread to 210 countries and has infected at least 1,857,128 people. Out of the total infections, 428,336 have been recovered but the easily spread virus is continuing to disrupt many lives. Major cities have been put under lockdown in almost all countries and the economy is struggling.

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All 50 states under disaster declaration in US

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump issued a disaster declaration for Wyoming on April 12 which implies that all 50 states will be under such declaration “for the first time in history”. The White House Press Secretary, Judd Deere, also said that it was the first time a US President has ever declared a major disaster in all its states at once. Donald Trump not only tweeted about the move himself but also said that the country is "winning" against the "war with the invisible enemy". 

The declaration came on the same day the US surpassed the COVID-19 death toll of Italy which is also one of the hardest-hit countries of the pandemic outside China, where it originated. It was Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon who was formally seeking the declaration on April 9 by writing to Trump when the state reportedly had more than 200 cases of coronavirus infections at the time.

This declaration would make the funding by federal funds available for both state and local governments, as well as certain non-profit organisations amid the deadly outbreak. Moreover, they can also help the governments of the states to organise the federal resources including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Army Corps of Engineers. 

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(Image Source: AP)