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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Former FDA head says 'exponential' rise in COVID-19 possible

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Former FDA head says 'exponential' rise in COVID-19 possible
Former FDA head says 'exponential' rise in COVID-19 possible

Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Sunday warned that some U.S. states, including Texas, Florida and Arizona, could start to see an 'exponential' rise in COVID-19 cases this coming week.

This report produced by Yahaira Jacquez.

As coronavirus infections continue to surge in states like Texas, Florida and Arizona, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb on Sunday sounded the alarm - saying the states could begin to see cases rise exponentially this coming week.

"The cases are building quite quickly in Texas, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arizona.

And the challenge with exponential growth is everything looks okay until suddenly it doesn't." Appearing on CBS's Face the Nation Gottlieb, also warned that hospitals in those states could soon become overwhelmed as cases mount.

"So if you look at places like Arizona, the hospitals now are getting pressed.

Midweek, there was a report out of Arizona that about forty percent of the hospital beds were filled with COVID patients.

But these things can mount very quickly, as we saw in New York." But Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said the Trump administration was on top of the outbreaks.

Also appearing on CBS's Face the Nation - he said they had sent medical equipment, staff and Department of Homeland Security personnel into areas that were seeing an uptick in infections.

The United States has reported over 2.26 million COVID-19 cases, which amounts to nearly 26% of the global total, according to a Reuters tally.

Nearly 120,000 deaths have been reported in the United States.

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