Dr. Deborah Birx — infectious disease expert for the White House Coronavirus Task Force — is offering a glimpse of what the United States’ surge in COVID-19 cases now equates to.
During an appearance on “The Today Show” Friday, Birx noted her concerns about the coronavirus surges in multiple states across the Southern region of the United States — namely Texas, California, Arizona, and Florida.
When asked about President Donald Trump’s claim that the virus would “get worse before it’s going to get better,” host Samantha Guthrie asked, “how much worse” could the virus get. According to Birx, that determination is contingent on a number of different factors.
“Well, it really depends on the next set of cities,” Birx said. “I mean we already are starting to see some plateauing in these critically four states that have suffered under the last four weeks, so Texas, California, Arizona, and Florida, those major metros and throughout their counties.”
Birx went on to stress the severity of the current surge in coronavirus cases, as she described it as “three New Yorks” in “three major states” although she referenced four states.
She added, “And, I just want to make it clear to the American public, what we have right now are essentially three New Yorks with these three major states.”
See Birx’s remarks below:
White House task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx talks to @SavannahGuthrie about the rising coronavirus cases in states including Florida, Texas and California.
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 24, 2020
"What we have right now are essentially three New Yorks with these three major states," she says. pic.twitter.com/mczzED47NX
The top health expert also emphasized the importance of the pandemic response being a national effort as she noted that public support of masks and increased social distancing will be required to effectively mitigate the spread of the virus.
“We have to change our behavior now before this virus completely moves back up through the north. We can do that and we can do that as an American people,” Birx said.
"We have to change our behavior now." — White House task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx. pic.twitter.com/aQbFfQKyMg
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) July 24, 2020
Having visited nine states in the last week with an additional five to visit over the weekend, Dr. Birx expressed committed to helping state and local officials develop structured safety plans on an area-by-area basis.
More than 4.1 million coronavirus cases have been reported in the United States, as of Friday morning, as the death toll is over 147,000 and there are more than 1.9 million reported recoveries.
