Dr. Fauci Warns Senate of ‘Serious’ Consequences if States Ignore Virus ‘Checkpoints’

Around the country today, Americans appear to be largely focused on the idea of getting back to whatever our new “normal” is going to be.  We’ve been social distancing for months now, and the economic strain of this practice is beginning to rear its ugly head.

But experts aren’t so sure that it’s safe to open up the nation all willy-nilly, and there are growing concerns that American business owners and local authorities are going to ignore the proper procedures in order to fast track a fiscal influx.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning against that today as he testifies before the Senate.

“As I have said many times publicly, what we have worked out is a guideline framework for how to open America again,” Fauci said, referencing a set of guidelines the White House has released for states and localities to begin opening their economies. In order to proceed to the first of three stages, states would need to see an uninterrupted decrease in coronavirus cases over a 14-day period.

“Depending on the dynamics of an outbreak in a particular region, state, city or area, that would really determine the speed and the pace with which one does reenter or reopen,” Fauci said. “If some areas – cities states or what have you – jump over those barriers, checkpoints and prematurely open up without having the capability of being able to respond effectively, and efficiently, my concern is that we will start to see little spikes that might turn into outbreaks.”

The issue here is that this particular strain of coronavirus has no known cure or vaccine, with social distancing being our only weapon against it.  The speed at which the virus spreads could work to overwhelm medical professionals if left unchecked, which would then create a far more profound economic and cultural impact than the precautionary route.