The United States is in an "absolutely dangerous situation that we have to take with the utmost seriousness" with the rapidly growing numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths spreading in every state in the country, Adm. Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, said Wednesday.
"This is not crying wolf," Giroir, the testing coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell. "This is the worst rate of rise in cases that we've seen in the pandemic in the United States and right now there's no sign of flattening."
That means all Americans must be diligent and make clear choices to "wear our masks, physically distance, and to try to make a better choice every day about how you'll gather, where you'll gather, and how to protect the vulnerable," he added.
The United States passed 250,000 recorded COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, and the numbers are still climbing, according to official sources.
The news from Pfizer and Moderna about their new mRNA vaccines is also "extraordinarily positive news," said Giroir, but "our deaths are going up 25% week over week, and this is not going in the right direction."
If mask measures and other limits aren't set, Giroir warned, "we will lose tens of thousands of Americans by the time the vaccine is out and widely distributed. You will hear every doc on the task force saying the same thing, that this is really crunch time."
Meanwhile, Giroir said that the government has done the "maximum we can do" when it comes to providing more tests, but that alone will not be enough to keep people safe.
"That negative test today does not mean you're going to be negative tomorrow or the next day, and certainly not by Thanksgiving," he stressed. "It is not a free pass to go without all the important measures that we want, particularly mask-wearing, physical distancing, and following all the recommendations that the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] has for the holidays."
The Food and Drug Administration's new authorization of an at-home rapid test is "very positive" news, but the tests will not be sold over the counter and will be in short supply and at "high cost," said Giroir.
There have also been complaints that the Trump administration is not sharing vital information, especially on its COVID-19 response, with Joe Biden's task force. Giroir told Mitchell that he will be as "transparent with the Biden administration or in their task force as I am with you. We all know what the data shows. The data are absolutely concerning. I lose sleep at night over where we are in the pandemic right now."
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.
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