Dr Deborah Birx calls mask-less protesters ‘devastatingly worrisome’ and says they could KILL loved ones
DR Deborah Birx believes that demonstrators who have been protesting coronavirus stay-at-home orders without masks or protection will regret it.
Birx, the response coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, said on Sunday that it’s an issue for her to see people engaging in large crowds amid the outbreak, as they amp up their risk of getting the virus.
“It’s devastatingly worrisome to me personally because if they go home and infect their grandmother or their grandfather who has a comorbid condition and they have a serious or a very unfortunate outcome, they will feel guilty for the rest of our lives,” Birx told Fox News.
“So we need to protect each other at the same time we’re voicing our discontent.”
Birx said that despite some states easing lockdown restrictions, she said the Trump administration has provided guidelines so that people can stay safe.
“As states reopen we really want them to follow the gating criteria, but we also made it very clear to the American people this is what you need to continue to do to protect yourself,” she said.
“You need to continue to social distance, you need to continue to practice scrupulous handwashing, you need to know where your hands and where they have been and what they have touched.”
Birx added to “make sure you don’t touch your face, and I think most importantly if you have any preexisting condition, through phase one and phase two of any reopening we have asked you to continue to shelter in place.”
States like Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Utah have allowed certain businesses — like beauty salons and restaurants — to reopen.
Birx said that it would help to participate in such things while wearing a mask, it’s still not the best idea.
“It’s safer, but we’ve made it clear that that is not a good phase one activity and I think the president made that clear when he discussed the case in Georgia,” she told Fox News.
As for beaches, Birx said it would be safe to go to them if beachgoers practice social distancing.
Late last month, President Donald Trump said he disagreed with Georgia’s plan to reopen beauty salons, spas, and other businesses, calling it “too soon.”
“I want him to do what he thinks is right,” Trump said. “But … I think (opening) spas and beauty salons and tattoo parlors and barbershops in phase one … it’s just too soon.”
But on Sunday, Trump said during a Fox News town hall that states can still lift lockdowns while protecting their residents from the virus.
He acknowledged that people are worried about getting sick, while others are worrying about losing their jobs and livelihoods.
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Trump increased his projection for the US death toll to as many as 100,000, up from 60,000 he suggested weeks ago.
“Look, we’re going to lose anywhere from 75,000, 80,000 to 100,000 people,” Trump said.
“That’s a horrible thing. We shouldn’t lose one person out of this. This should have been stopped in China.”