WASHINGTON — Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned on Friday that the storming of the U.S. Capitol was likely a “surge event” in the coronavirus pandemic that would have public health consequences nationwide.
“I do think you have to anticipate that this is another surge event. You had largely unmasked individuals in a non-distanced fashion, who were all through the Capitol,” Redfield told McClatchy in an interview.
The outgoing CDC director characterized the riot as a “very, very sad day” for the nation, and expressed concern that members of Congress and law enforcement could have been exposed to COVID-19 after a violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump breached the building and roamed inside.
“Then these individuals all are going in cars and trains and planes going home all across the country right now. So I do think this is an event that will probably lead to a significant spreading event,” Redfield said. “This is an event that is going to have public health consequences.”
COVID-19 continues to spread uncontrolled throughout the country with over 4,000 deaths reported on Thursday due to the disease, the highest daily total during the pandemic in the United States.
Those numbers are likely to increase, possibly reaching up to 5,000 deaths a day, Redfield warned.
“We haven’t hit the peak of the current surge,” he said. “Clearly, the amount of mortality we’re seeing, as many of us are trying to stress, is more than we saw on Pearl Harbor or 9/11, over and over and over again. That’s the state of the pandemic unfortunately we’re at right now.”
The primary cause of the spread, Redfield said, was among unmasked individuals gathering indoors in private households during the cold season.
An increase in gatherings around Christmas and New Year’s Eve has built on a surge in cases seen after Thanksgiving, and is pushing hospitals around the country to the breaking point.
Redfield pointed to hospitals under stress and rationing oxygen in Southern California, but also said that Texas and Georgia are likely to experience hospital bed shortages soon.
“We’re going to continue to see mortality in the 2,500-5,000 a day range,” Redfield said. “This is going to continue to get worse through January, and probably parts of February before we really start to turn the corner.”
