As Coronavirus Cases Rise, Fauci Says Some 'Normality' Could Be a Year Away

By Derek Hawkins, Paul Schemm, Meryl Kornfield, Brittany Shammas and Adam Taylor, The Washington Post

14 June 20

ith President Trump’s rally in Tulsa less than a week away, health experts warned that the indoor venue and potentially large crowd could help spread the coronavirus, putting attendees and others at risk.

“I’m concerned about our ability to protect anyone who attends a large, indoor event,” Bruce Dart, director of the Tulsa city and county health department, told the Tulsa World. “And I’m also concerned about our ability to ensure the president stays safe as well.”

The scheduled rally comes as new infections are trending upward in at least 21 states across the South and the West, prompting some governors to rethink reopening plans and renewing concerns that the country could be a long way from containing the pandemic. Alabama, Oregon and South Carolina are among the states with the biggest increases. Alabama saw a 92 percent increase in its seven-day average, while Oregon’s seven-day average was up 83.8 percent and South Carolina’s was up 60.3 percent.

Here are some significant developments:

• Anthony S. Fauci, the top U.S. infectious-disease expert, warned that waves of infection could come “back and forth” for months.
• As states relax restrictions, public health experts believe wide-scale contact tracing is the price that must be paid to reopen safely. And time is of the essence.
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson has put in place a review of Britain’s two-meter (six-foot) social distancing policy as businesses are desperate to reopen.
• Chile’s health minister resigned Saturday as the country’s daily coronavirus fatalities continue to spike.
• Beijing reported 36 cases on Sunday, the largest number of new daily cases announced in the Chinese capital since the outbreak began.