Even if the country is reopening, Americans must remain vigilant with their precautions against contracting and spreading the coronavirus, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield said Friday.
“We need to be very vigilant in that this new opening up — which has that requirement of early case diagnosis and isolation, contact tracing — is really embedded, as you'll see in the phases, with still maintaining that personal vigilance, that personal mitigation, so that we can continue to limit and protect the vulnerable in this nation,” Redfield told NBC's "Today." "It's important not to let up at all."
Redfield said there are still significant transmissions of the disease in New York City, Boston, Baltimore, and Washington, and they should continue to follow the mitigation guidelines that have been recommended by the government.
Thursday, President Donald Trump and the White House coronavirus task force outlined recommendations for governors reopening their states' economies, listing three phases in a process Redfield said should be a "step-by-step, prudent process."
He added that there are already several regions ready to make their move while reopening, but there are still several preparations states must make.
There are also a "number of jurisdictions" that are "very close" to having the capability of performing early diagnosis and contact tracing, Redfield said, and the CDC will work with all jurisdictions to help correct gaps, as it will be "really critical" to have public health infrastructure as the restrictions loosen.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.