Coronavirus task force leader Dr. Deborah Birx acknowledged at the White House on Monday that the federal government quickly used a “very blunt force” to stop the spread of the virus.
“We went out with a very blunt force,” she said, referring to recent tough advice from the Centers for Disease Control guidelines. “We had to do that because we weren’t sure where the virus was and where it was going.”
Birx spoke at the White House press briefing and said that the task force learned a lot about the virus and had the necessary data to update their recommendations.
“It has to be very tailored geographically and may have to be tailored by age group, understanding who’s at the greatest risk and understanding how to protect them.”
President Donald Trump said that doctors would likely prefer a complete global shutdown to prevent the virus from spreading, but he argued that Americans could do two things at the same time.
Trump predicted updated “timelines” and “datelines” to loosen restrictions but said that “hotspots” like Washington, New York, and California would retain strict advisories.
Birx said that some states were further along than others in trying to “flatten the curve” of medical cases of the virus, and other states were not as affected.
“Each state and each hot spot in the United States is going to be its own curve ,because the seeds came in at different times,” Birx said.
Trump said that governors of certain states would have the leeway to decide for themselves what restrictions were necessary.
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