The Secretary of Health and Human Services said Sunday that “windows are closed” to curb the surge in corona virus cases – and encourage all Americans to follow government guidelines on social distance and wearing masks.
“So we have the tools to do this … but the window is closed. We have to act, and people as individuals must act responsibly. We need social distance. We need to wear our face shields if we are in an arrangement where we are can’t get social distance, especially in this hot zone, “Secretary Alex Azar said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press“In an interview on Sunday.
Azar said that in many southern states where the virus spread – including Florida and Texas – the majority of cases were people under 35, and most of them had no symptoms.
“We got our death rate and our hospitalization rate was the lowest in two months, but this is a very serious situation,” he said.
Azar said his government was working with local and state authorities to understand why the virus had surged in certain areas.
He noted that treatments such as steroids and Remdesivir are now available for COVID-19, and encourage people who have the virus to donate plasma to increase supply.
He said the surge in the case was not about which countries had reopened or reopened their economies.
“We have many communities in the state that have reopened like the southern states but have not experienced this,” Azar said.
“We have to get to the bottom of why we see these cases soaring in this area, but in essence, we all have as individuals, our individual behavior to ensure that we practice the right social distance and wear a face covering when we are unable, and practice good personal hygiene and especially protect our most vulnerable citizens. “
Asked by host Chuck Todd why President Trump was not wearing a mask, Azar said Trump continued to be tested.
“The president, we know, is a very unique situation as a leader of the free world. “He was tested constantly and the people around him were tested constantly and they kept their distance even with that,” he said, adding that people must follow government guidelines on how to fight the corona virus.
