Social Distancing Will Last Several More Weeks, Fauci Says

Americans will have to practice social distancing for at least several more weeks to mitigate U.S. cases of Covid-19, NIH’s Anthony S. Fauci said Friday.

“If you look at the trajectory of the curves of outbreaks in other areas, it’s at least going to be several weeks. I cannot see that all of a sudden next week or two weeks from now, it’s going to be over. I don’t think there’s a chance of that. I think it’s going to be several weeks,” Fauci said on The Today Show.

Fauci, who’s the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the National Institutes of Health, is one of the nation’s leading voices on the White House coronavirus task force. His comments come as the death toll in Italy has reached more than 3,400, surpassing China’s more than 3,100 deaths.

On Monday, President Donald Trump advised against gathering in groups of 10 or more, as part of updated guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to slow the spread of SARS-Cov-2, the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19 disease.

The goal is to keep cases down so the number of severe infections don’t overwhelm the health system, leading to a shortage of ventilators and hospital beds. Health-care providers have already said they’re short on personal protective equipment they need to respond to the virus, such as masks.

There are, as yet, no vaccines or treatments available.