(10 Jun 2020) As more states move to reopen their economies from the COVID-19 shutdown, the White House has issued guidance to determine whether a state is ready to ease social distancing measures.
Dr. Colleen Kraft is the associate chief medical officer at Emory University Hospital and associate professor of infectious diseases and pathology at Emory University School of Medicine.
She has been serving as Emory's expert on reopening and safety measures during mass gatherings.
Dr. Kraft says Emory has the lowest number of patients since March, but the number of cases have peaked in other parts of the state.
Two measures of readinesss are the number of new cases per day and the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests.
At least one measure should see a 14-day downward trajectory, according to White House guidance.
"We also need to realize that a vaccine development usually takes like sometimes years to decades. And so we're trying to cram all of that good rigor into one year, if that. So we just have to make sure that we're following the process. We're currently in the phase of the vaccine studies that tells us whether it works or not," Dr. Kraft said.
The pandemic has permeated and upended all aspects of society, including hundreds of millions of livelihoods across the globe.
With lockdown fatigue on the rise, governments around the world are consumed by the question of when to relax strict restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Virus testing kits are in short supply; authorities are aware that if they reopen their economies too soon, they could get hit by a second wave of infections.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.
For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
The vast majority of people recover.
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