Currently, the United States is experiencing multiple new outbreaks of coronavirus due to the lack of policies and strategies to reduce transmission rates in the majority of its states. Due to the rising number of infections, infectious disease experts are now suggesting the country to implement a second lockdown for coronavirus.
Even after setting record highs of the daily average of over sixty thousand new cases per day, the US has continued to operate and reopen states as well as businesses in order to boost the economy and address the prevailing issue of loss of jobs and unemployment.
While easing down restrictions can help a good number of people deal with the rising financial burden, it can pave the way for an even higher rate of coronavirus transmission, which is what is happening in the country right now.
Although the current daily average is lower than the peak one, it is still significantly higher than it was at the start of the pandemic. At the moment, the average is of forty to forty-five thousand new infections.
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In comparison, the figures showed a total of thirty to thirty-two thousand new cases diagnosed daily in March and April. This shows that the crisis has continued to worsen in the US regardless of any new policies implemented to lower coronavirus spread.
Therefore, a number of experts believe that the country may need a second lockdown for coronavirus to prevent the conditions from worsening further.
According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is a chief member of the White House task force and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the US, unlike Europe is still in the midst of the first wave of coronavirus.
This means that pandemic can grow much more difficult to control and worse and the country is likely to keep experiencing outbreaks for a very long time if effective action is not taken at the moment.
Coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns have prevented as many as sixty million new infections in the US, as shown by research. However, the majority of health experts agree that the possibility of a second lockdown is still very low.
In addition, it should be noted that it is not the political or economic situation only that make imposing a lockdown difficult but also the uneven outcome of doing so.
During the first lockdown which was imposed at the start of spring, many of the states had different policies and imposed restrictions at varying times. Secondly, some states did not even issue proper statements regarding coronavirus prevention, stay-at-home policies, and quarantine centers.
For instance, South Dakota made no official announcements on lockdown-related restrictions and preventive measures.
Overall, the implementation of guidelines from the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention was highly uneven, which is why there was also an increase in the number of cases during the first lockdown.
A second lockdown for coronavirus is likely to have similar outcomes. On top of differences in responses of state and municipal governments, there is a lack of planning from the federal government.
Hence, having an economic shutdown for a second time is not going to give the best results, which is why experts are suggesting a better and improved system of tracing and testing for coronavirus so that it can be prevented in the first place.
