- The coronavirus’ US impact is continuing to get worse with each passing day, with the COVID-19 virus continuing to easily spread around communities because of choices that people keep making.
- Dr. Anthony Fauci can’t understand why people keep making one particular choice — going out to drink at bars.
- Bars are breeding grounds for the coronavirus, thanks to the close proximity in which people sit, as well as the large numbers of people you also tend to see there.
White House advisor Kellyanne Conway argued on the program Fox & Friends on Wednesday that the country should prioritize getting things ready for schools to open soon as opposed to letting bars be open right now for in-person service.
Locales around the country seem to be warming to this idea as the coronavirus pandemic lingers — or, at least, they’re walking back an easing of restrictions on bars. This comes as we’re starting to see more examples like this kind of thing around the country, with 88 cases of the coronavirus having been tied to a single bar reopening in Michigan. Accordingly, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, who also serves as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told US senators during a hearing this week that drinking and congregating in bars is just about one of the dangerous and most foolhardy activities people could be doing right now.
During a hearing in which Fauci was lamenting the current coronavirus surges happening in four US states (Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas, which comprise some 50% of the country’s new coronavirus infections) Fauci added his strong words about bar reopenings. “Bars — really not good. Really not good,” he said.
“Congregation at a bar, inside, is bad news. We really got to stop that right now.”
Those remarks came during the same appearance when Dr. Fauci also warned that our current cadence of new cases in the US could surge from more than 40,000 per day now to as many as 100,000 new cases per day. Regarding the fear around people congregating in bars — because, remember, social distancing is one of the few tools we have to prevent the spread of the virus — at least three states (Florida, Texas, and Arizona) have re-closed their bars after allowing them to open up again in May, as a result of a surge in coronavirus cases.
Likewise, a woman in Florida earlier this month tested positive for COVID-19, along with 15 of her friends, after they enjoyed a night out at a bar in the Florida city of Jacksonville.
“You can get outdoors, you can interact — wear a mask, try to avoid the close congregation of people, wash your hands often,” Fauci added during his Senate appearance. “But don’t just make it all or none. We’ve got to be able to get people to get out and enjoy themselves within the safe guidelines that we have.”
