The former US Disease Control and Prevention Centers director Dr. Tom Frieden said the country has not done enough to keep the Covid-19 outbreak in the bay.
“We may be sick and tired of staying home, but the virus does not get tired of making us sick,” said Chris Cuomo of Frieden CNN on Tuesday.
Frieden is now CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, an initiative of the global public health organization Vital Strategies.
The increase in the number of cases in some parts of the US is not the result of the country doing more tests, as some Republicans have claimed, including Donald Donald Trump. Instead, the numbers are increasing because there are more diseases and they are spreading, Frieden said.
“The US reaction is only delayed,” said Frieden. “We don’t do what we have to do to physically keep it away. We do not grow communication monitoring across the country as effectively as needed, so we can prevent cases from bursting into clusters and outbreaks. ”
Frieden compared the US response to South Korea.
“The facts don’t lie,” Frieden said. “There are 120,000 dead Americans from this virus. Finally, there are 270 people who died from him in South Korea. “
According to an installment by Johns Hopkins University, South Korea reported 281 coronavirus deaths, while the United States saw more than 121,000 people.
Frieden said that countries around the world are better at testing, monitoring, and isolating people who are ill, as they have lower infection rates. He believes there should be a better national response in the US.
He said that in the absence of adequate national intervention, there is something individuals can do to lower their case numbers.
“Remember the three Ws. Put on a mask, wash your hands, watch your distance, ”Frieden said. “You’re doing these three things, we can keep the virus away.”
