(Photo : Reuters Connect)

As states in the U.S. have slowly reopened its economy, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned not to disregard the health and safety guidelines that could possibly trigger an uncontrollable outbreak, according to a recently published article.

States in the U.S. Slowly Reopens 

Most of the states in the U.S. are now under Phase 1 as part of the "Opening Up America Again." During this period, everyone is still obliged to follow stringent rules on social distancing and the mandatory wearing of face masks. 

A place or region in the country can only move in going towards Phase 2 and Phase 3 if the trajectory of COIVD-a9 cases, deaths, and hospitalizations are going downward. This means that the reopening will not be drastic.

At present, the U.S. still leads the world with the highest number of COVID-19 cases. As of today, the country has more than 1.4 million COVID-19 cases and with a death toll of more than 85,000, according to worldometers.

Dr. Anthony Fauci Asserted that Guidelines Must be Strictly Followed

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease expert and the Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned that an uncontrollable outbreak will happen if the health and safety guidelines will not be strictly followed. 

During the U.S. Senate Health Committee Hearing through video-conferencing, he said that the official COVID-19 death toll in the is inaccurately low and it could be more serious if the federal and state officials will immediately relax its safeguards against the virus.

Dr. Fauci said in his statement: "My concern is that we will start to see little spikes that will turn into outbreaks." He also told the lawmakers that the virus will not disappear as long as there is no vaccine that will ultimately kill the new coronavirus. 

Risk of Prematurely Reopening the States

There is a risk of prematurely reopening the states in the country before local benchmarks, rapid testing, and contact tracing had been put in place. Under the three different Phases, the state Governors must strategically reopen their state and outline how they will reopen their economy.

"There is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you might not be able to control. Not only leading to some suffering and death, but it could even set you back on the road to get economic recovery," Dr. Fauci added in another report.

The NIH Director firmly believed that the number of the recorded death toll in the u.S. is too low, this was his response to Sen. Bernie Sanders. He said: "Most of us feel that the number of deaths are likely higher than that number. In New York City there may have been people who died at home, who did have COVID, who were not counted as COVID because they never got to the hospital."

Rapid Antibody Tests 

Meanwhile, Trump's administration is now trying its best to have rapid testing through the help of Swiss drugmaker Roche that will conduct antibody tests to determine if a person has even been infected with COVID-19.

U.S. Food and Drugs Administration approved the application of the Swiss drugmaker. The company said that they will double their efforts from 50 million to 100 million antibody tests every month at the end of this year.

This test will also help to identify the exact number of COVID-19 infected persons in the country and to know also if a state already qualifies for Phase 2 and Phase 3. 

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