Linsey Davis, ABC News’ Linsey Fauci interviewed Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House Chief Medical Advisor. He was asked how we will know when the pandemic has ended.
Fauci, unsurprisingly, refused to set a threshold.
Davis stated that the country is still experiencing approximately 147,000 COVID cases per day in the months ahead. Davis said, “But what would the threshold be in the future to allow you to say that the pandemic is over?”
Fauci responded, “You know what? There’s no magic number.” “But what you want is for the trajectory to continue going down and down.” The important issue is, I believe, related to the question you asked about the CDC’s consideration of giving more precise metrics for decision-making. It seems that focusing more on the rate of severe illness and hospitalization will help determine that. That number is not yet known. However, that number will be a much greater determinant than infection rate.
Fauci would not (or could not) say that if the number of cases remains below a certain level for a time period, then we can confidently consider ourselves to be past the pandemic.
Fauci could have given a very low number, such as 25,000 cases per day, or claimed that the pandemic would be over when COVID-19 cases reach numbers comparable with the seasonal flu. His ambiguous answer would have been more than anything. Why didn’t he give a threshold? There have been many pandemics over the years, and all of them ended at some point. There must be a way to determine when a pandemic is over.
Fauci does not want to set a date at which the pandemic will be over. The government can justify COVID restrictions as long as the language is vague. He refuses to commit to any action now to avoid putting the government into a position where people expect all restrictions to be lifted or relaxed. However, he gives Democrats cover by not admitting there will be an end.
While the people want the pandemic over, the Biden administration doesn’t. This is obvious.
