Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said it was “possible” the coronavirus death toll in America could reach 300,000 if people do not follow social distancing guidelines.
Host Dana Bash said, “Dr. Birx, you mentioned deaths. The former Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the U.S. coronavirus death toll could double to 300,000 deaths by the end of the year. Do you think that is possible?”
Birx said, “Anything is possible if we don’t have all— you know, public health is called public health because it has a public component. We need all of the public to help us get us control of this virus. If we still are going to parties at home, even though the bars are closed, if we are creating interactions where we know, it’s not safe because there are multiple people there. You don’t have masks on, and you’re not socially distanced. It’s not super spreading individuals, it’s super spreading events, and we need to stop those. We definitely need to take more precautions.”
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