Essential employees, such as first responders and healthcare providers, who have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus, can now return to work if they are not experiencing symptoms, according to Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). During an April 8 White House press briefing, he announced the new guidelines. Being exposed to the virus is defined as coming within six feet of a confirmed or suspected case of the disease.
These essential workers have been required to remain quarantined for two weeks, a requirement that has significantly reduced the workforce for such essential personnel.
President Trump said that while he knows workers are “going stir crazy” at home, he can’t predict when the threat from the virus will decline. “The numbers are changing and they’re changing rapidly and soon we’ll be over that curve. We’ll be over the top and we’ll be headed in the right direction. I feel strongly about that,” Trump said regarding the coronavirus statistics.
“I can’t tell you in terms of the date,” Trump said, regarding when the CDC’s recommendations for social distancing will be eased to allow life in the country to return to normal. He noted that cases could go down and then once again “start going up if we’re not careful.”
“At some point we expect to be back, like it was before,” Trump said, obviously unable to predict when that will be.
When asked in a April 9 coronavirus press briefing what criteria might be used to return the nation to normal conditions, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told reporters, “It really varies differently. So I don’t think there’s one medical criteria.” Fauci noted that reopening a huge metropolitan area such as New York City would be different from that of a small town in the Midwest.
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Warren Mass has served The New American since its launch in 1985 in several capacities, including marketing, editing, and writing. Since retiring from the staff several years ago, he has been a regular contributor to the magazine. Warren writes from Texas and can be reached at [email protected].
