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Memorial Day weekend is here, and Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, on Sunday clarified her comments about going to the beach this holiday.
“So we really want to be clear all the time that social distancing is absolutely critical,” said Birx, in an interview with ABC. “And if you can’t social disance and you’re outside, you must wear a mask.”
Birx had skipped over the caution on masks last week, when she said Americans could continue their Memorial Day weekend activities as long as they were careful and maintained social distancing.
Birx’s comments came as photos from this weekend have shown large crowds at beaches and parks across the country, including sizable crowds in Daytona Beach, Florida, and at a pool party Saturday in Osage Beach, near Lake of the Ozark, Missouri.
The crowded Ozark pool party, photos and videos of which went viral, prompted a statement Monday from Missouri’s health director, Dr. Randall Williams.
“The virus can be transmitted even among those young and healthy who aren’t experiencing symptoms,” Williams said. “When they then carry the virus and transmit it to a more vulnerable person, this is when we tend to see the long-lasting and tragic impact of these decisions that are being made.”
In the Northeast, beaches reopened though rain dampened the plans of many. Parts of New Orleans stirred back to life as some restaurants and businesses opened for the first time in more than two months.
President Donald Trump also took time off, fleeing the confines of the White House to hit the links at his private golf course in Sterling, Virginia, on Saturday and Sunday.
Still, many Americans remain cautious and have no plans to participate in public activities as the number of new coronavirus deaths in the United States surpassed 97,000 Sunday — and was nearing 98,000 by Monday afternoon.
Keeping holidays safe has been a quandary faced by state leaders. Most states are doing their best to establish rules, but Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University, warned that being on vacation can lead some people to drop their guard and “just relax into their pre-COVID behaviors.”
“They forget to wear masks” Schaffner said. “They’re not so keen on 6-foot distancing.”
While it’s tempting to celebrate, public health experts suggest staying home if you can, avoiding crowds and connecting with family and friends by phone or video chat.
If you choose to go out, celebrate by keeping your distance from others, wear masks and avoid sharing food and drinks.
READ: Holiday Amid Pandemic: Americans Divided On How To Respond
Americans Venture Out For Memorial Day Weekend Despite Virus
Dr. Deborah Birx spoke with ABC’s “This Week” host Martha Raddatz on Sunday and offered more specific guidance on going to the beach this Memorial Day weekend.
“I think it’s our job as public health officials every day to be informing the public of what puts them at risk,” said Birx, when asked about if opening beaches and parks was the right call. “And we’ve made it clear that there’s asymptomatic spread.”
Birx’s main message on Sunday was that if you can’t social distance while outside, you “must wear a mask,” a level of specificity she had ommitted when she spoke about the subject of Memorial Day weekend activities during a White House press briefing last week.
As she told reporters then, “You can go out. You can be outside. You can play golf. You can play tennis with marked balls. You can go to the beaches if you stay 6 feet apart. But remember that that is your space, and that’s a space you need to protect and ensure that you’re social distanced from others.”
Memorial Day More Poignant As Veterans Die From Virus
Memorial Day in 2020 will pay tribute not only to those who died on the battlefield but more recent fallen soliders as well.
The toll of the virus on military veterans has been particulary harsh. They are generally older, have underlying health conditions and many reside in facilities that have been breeding grounds for the illness.
More than 1,000 veterans have been killed by the coronavirus, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
And in another reminder of the changes caused by the coronavirus, many of this year’s Memorial Day gatherings and celebrations have been either canceled or made virtual in face of the pandemic.
U.S. May Ban Travel From Brazil Sunday
Robert O’Brien, the National Security Adivisor of the United States, said the Trump administration is likely to ban travel into the United States from Brazil on Sunday.
The travel ban would be in response to a recent spike in coronavirus cases in Brazil.
“We hope that it will be temporary,” O’Brien said, speaking on the CBS porgram “Face the Nation.” “Because of the situation in Brazil, we are going to take every step necessary to protect the American people.”
Brazil has the largest outbreak of the virus in the world after the United States, with more than 347,000 infections and more than 22,000 deaths.
White House Questions Death Toll
The number of U.S. deaths caused by the coronavirus has passed 96,000, but members of the Trump administration are questioning the number.
On Friday, President Donald Trump said White House meeting have turned to questioning whether the total may be inflated by the inclusion of people who died while infected by the coronavirus, but of other conditions, The New York Times reported.
Trump told reporters he accepts the current death toll but that the figures could be “lower than” the official count. Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, said previously that America has taken “a very liberal approach” to what counts as a COVID-19 death.
The assertion by the Trump administration contradicts that of public health experts, who argue the death toll is probably far higher than what is publicly known.
New York Sees Lowest Daily Deaths In Weeks
In what Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling a critical benchmark, the state of New York on Saturday reported its lowest number of daily coronavirus deaths in weeks.
Saturday’s death toll was 84. The state saw a peak of 799 on April 8.
“In my head, I was always looking to get under 100,” Cuomo said. “For me, it’s a sign that we’re making real progress.”
However, the death toll climbed back up 24-hours later, as Cuomo reported 109 deaths in New York on Sunday.
“Number of deaths ticked up, which is terrible news, but the overall line is still good,” Cuomo said during his daily news briefing. “The 109 families that lost a loved one, they are in our thoughts on prayers.”
Cuomo also said on Sunday that all professional sports in New York can open their training camps.
There is no timetable for New York City, however. The area has met four of the seven reopening metrics, but is still missing a share of total beds and ICU beds available, as well as contact tracers.
Oxford, AstraZeneca Begin Advanced Trials Of Vaccine
The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca are recruiting more than 10,000 people to start advanced human studies on its experimental COVID-19 vaccine.
Companies around the world are racing to develop a vaccine to fight the virus. AstraZeneca received a boost to get the immunization tested and ready for use when the United States pledged as much as $1.2 billion toward development Thursday, Bloomberg reported.
A small part of the trial will involve testing children from 5 to 12 years old and adults 56 and older, according to a statement. The other, larger stage of the trial will test the vaccine’s effectiveness in volunteers 18 and older.
The proposed vaccine is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus that’s genetically changed to make it unable to grow in humans. More than 1,000 people have already received it in an early-stage trial that began in April.
Fauci On Why A Vaccine By End Of Year Is ‘Aspirational’
In his quest to reopen the nation’s economy, Trump recently launched Operation Warp Speed to encourage a speedy creation of a vaccine.
To counter his gusto, Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation’s top infectious disease experts, typically isn’t far behind to remind Americans that developing a safe and effective vaccine takes time.
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On Friday, however, Fauci revealed a sliver of optimism. In an interview with The Hill, he said the government is taking the unprecedented step of investing in promising vaccine candidates before knowing whether they’re effective. Doing this, Fauci said, can shave months off the timeline of development.
Fauci said he was “fairly certain” that if production is started this summer and ramped up, “you could have 100 million doses by the end of the year and maybe a couple of hundred million doses by the beginning of next year.”
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