Dr Anthony Fauci speaking at a White House lectern
(Picture: AP)The United States should start “inching” back towards normality after the coronavirus pandemic, White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci has said.
Dr Fauci said American states are facing tough choices to protect their citizens amid growing fatigue with the pandemic which has entered its third year.
“There is no perfect solution to this,” the top US infectious disease expert told Reuters news agency.
It comes as US public health officials announced they were preparing new Covid-19 guidance.
State officials in New Jersey, New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware and Oregon revealed they were lifting mask mandates for schools or other public settings in coming weeks.
“The fact that the world and the United States and particularly certain parts of the United States are just up to here with COVID - they just really need to somehow get their life back,” he said.
“You don’t want to be reckless and throw everything aside, but you’ve got to start inching towards that.”
While Omicron cases in the US are declining, infection and deaths remain high with up to 2,200 US citizens dying every day. Many of these are unvaccinated.
The current seven-day daily average of Covid-19 cases stands at about 147,000.
This is a 40 per cent decrease from the previous week, according to US government data.
Over the same period, hospital admissions fell about 28 per cent to 9,500 per day.
Dr Fauci acknowledged that some states easing of restrictions could involve tradeoffs and unnecessary infections, but said strict prevention policies were also harmful.
“Is the impact on mental health, is the impact on development of kids, is the impact on schools - is that balanced against trying to be totally pristine and protecting against infection? I don’t have the right answer to that,” he said.
