The United States must avoid making the same mistakes as Europe

Don’t make the same mistakes

Fauci warns as Europe struggles to contain its third coronavirus wave

While coronavirus is still spreading across the US, infection levels remain high and new variants are putting the progress made so far at risk.

Experts who believe that summer could be much improved remain cautious about the near term, with highly transmissible variants circulating that could cause a spring spike in cases and with pandemic weary Americans tiring of restrictions. Continuing to be careful for just a little longer as more people get vaccinated could help ensure people get the glorious summer many are imagining become a reality.

-Angela Rasmussen, Virologist_Georgetown University

When you see a plateau at a level as high as 60,000 cases a day, that is a very vulnerable time to have a surge, to go back up. That’s what exactly happened in Europe,

Fauci told CNN yesterday.

Fauci has warned that the variants threatening Europe right now are present in the US. He said there are ways to prevent the country from finding itself in a similar place in a few weeks’ time.

Europe is struggling to contain the third wave of the epidemic, which appears to have been caused by the new, more infectious and deadlier variant of the virus first identified in the UK. At the same time, the continent has been lagging behind the UK and the US in vaccination rates.

The worsening situation has left some European governments no other option than to tighten the restrictions once again. Half of Italy’s 20 regions, including the cities of Rome, Milan and Venice, have gone into a new lockdown today, with people now banned from leaving their houses except for work or health reasons.

The best way that we can avoid any threat from variants is do two things. Get as many people vaccinated as quickly as we possibly can and to continue with the public health measures until we get this broad umbrella of protection over society,

Fauci said.