A million positive cases in the US predicted as government ponders easing up on social distancing

As US politicians continue to bicker amongst themselves, the severity of the Covid-19 outbreak in America continues to go from bad to worse. On Friday, the USA overtook China as the country with the most amount of coronavirus cases and today, the number stands at 138,879 positive cases with 2,438 deaths and 4,432 recoveries.

Given that the nations leaders wasted valuable time arguing amongst themselves before finally approving a US$2.2 trillion aid package, it’s hardly surprising. As the government attempts to reestablish a sense of normalcy, the top infectious disease expert in the country had a grim prognosis on just how bad the outbreak is going to get before it gets better.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the same person who’s been at odds with US president Donald Trump over the Presidents lack of urgency (and competence) spoke to CNN yesterday to offer his assessment of the situation

“I would say between 100,000 and 200,000 cases,” he said, correcting himself to say he meant deaths. “We’re going to have millions of cases.” He did however, add that “I don’t want to be held to that” because the pandemic is “such a moving target.”

This comes as New York, New Orleans and other major cities said they would soon run out of crucial medical supplies.

President Trump, who’s government is considering rolling back guidelines on social distancing in an effort to boost the economy seems hell bent on playing down just how bad the Covid-19 pandemic is by comparing it to the flu, but Fauci’s prediction would take the death toll well past that of the average seasonal flu.

That being said however, the US seems to have ramped up its testing capabilities, with Fauci striking a more optimistic tone when asked about the lack of testing in the country.

“If you compare a couple of weeks ago to where we are right now, we have an amazingly larger number of tests than we had.”

When pressed about how soon the wider availability would lift travel and work restrictions, he said:

“It’s going to be a matter of weeks. It’s not going to be tomorrow and it’s certainly not going to be next week. It’s going to be a little bit more than that.”

Given that the current number of cases is putting a heavy toll on an already strained healthcare system, perhaps rolling back social distancing guidelines and restarting the economy shouldn’t be at the top of the Presidents list of priorities right now.

As it stands, there’s been a total of 715,486 positive cases worldwide, with 33,655 deaths and 150,883 recoveries.