The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that widespread lockdowns may be needed again if coronavirus cases continue to increase.
“If cases begin to go up again, and particularly if they go up dramatically, it’s important to recognize that more extensive mitigation efforts such as what were implemented back in March may be needed again,” Dr. Jay Butler, the CDC’s COVID-19 incident manager, told reporters on a conference call Friday. “And that is a decision that really needs to be made locally based on what is happening within the community regarding disease transmission.”
Butler added, “We know the pandemic is not over, and even looking at some of the serology data, it’s clear that the vast majority of Americans still have not been exposed to this virus.”
Twenty-three states have seen increases in coronavirus cases in the last week. The governors of both Utah and Oregon, as well as the mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday decided to pause the loosening of economic restrictions in their areas.
