Coronavirus Death Toll, Cases: Is The US Opening Too Soon? What Doctors Say About The Virus

As several U.S. states begin to reopen amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, top doctors are concerned that governments are lifting restrictive measures too soon. As of Saturday, there are over 1.1 million cases of the virus in the United States, with the domestic death toll standing over 65,000.

“I worry we’re reopening too soon, before we get the numbers under control and before we have the capabilities in place for us to test everyone and also figure out who they are exposed to,” Dr. Laura Wen, an emergency physician and professor of health policy at George Washington University told MSNBC on Friday.

Wen expressed concern that if the U.S. opens up too soon, states could see a stronger second wave of the virus and possibly shut down non-essential businesses again.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top member of the White House coronavirus task force, said Thursday that states and local governments should not move to reopen too soon.

"The discretion is given to the governors. They know their states, the mayors know their cities, so you want to give them a little wiggle room. But my recommendation is, you know, don't wiggle too much. Try as best as you can to abide by the guidelines that were very well thought out, and very well delineated," Fauci said during a CNN coronavirus global town hall event.

"Some of them are doing that, but others are taking a bit of a chance," Fauci said. "I hope they can actually handle any rebound that they see."

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency authorization to Remdesivir, a drug that has seen positive early results in treating coronavirus patients. The drug is produced by biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences.

“We want to thank the collaborators that brought remdesivir to this point and many of our people that have been part of this, in fact, the caregivers,” Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day told reporters Friday at the White House.

President Trump has been frequently criticized for his response to the coronavirus, and downplaying the disease in the early stages of the outbreak. White House senior adviser Jared Kushner this week claimed the federal government’s handling of the crisis is a “great success story” despite the high number of Americans who have died from the virus.

A 58-year-old Seattle man on Feb. 29 became the first-announced U.S. death.