‚Very worst of the pandemic‘ ahead in US with no apparent strategy

Guardian:

A lame-duck presidency and political gridlock after a bitterly fought election are set to worsen the US’s coronavirus crisis just as the pandemic enters its deadliest phase, according to health experts.

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“The strategy, if you can summarize in one word, is hope,” said Dr Carlos del Rio, executive associate dean of the Emory School of Medicine and Grady Health System in Georgia. “And hope is not a strategy.”

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Dr Shikhah Gupta, executive director of Get Us PPE, the physician-founded non-profit aimed at providing PPE to workers, said the group was “preparing for the worst”.

“One of the biggest trends we’re seeing is people are really ready to pretend the [pandemic] is over,” said Gupta.

At the same time, the economic recovery appears to be faltering as businesses run out of pandemic relief aid and the virus spreads widely. Economist Chris Rupkey told Reuters the slowing recovery appeared to show, “a second wave of layoffs is hitting the economy, perhaps due to the rising count of virus cases”. At the same time, some businesses may have never been able to fully reopen “and [are] facing bankruptcy”.