Ezekiel Emanuel: We Can ‘Have a Real Return to Normalcy’ by ‘End of September or October’

On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Cuomo Primetime,” former Biden transition team COVID adviser Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel stated that “by the end of September or October,” we can “have a real return to normalcy.”

Emanuel said that “we should not let up. … We should not ease up, allow indoor dining, big groups of more than 25, getting rid of mask mandates. We have to hold on for another two or three months in this condition.”

Host Chris Cuomo then asked, “But do you think that maybe the science has now lost to the social pressure and the balancing of equities in the regard of, it’s going down. Vaccines are coming up. Only a small fraction die. The cases seem to be getting better now because people are having less viral load from mask wear or whatever other myth they believe. And we’ve had enough. We’re not going back. We’re only going to go forward?”

Emanuel responded, “Chris, if we were asking people to hang on for another year, right, next March, next March. I would understand that. But that’s not what is at issue. What is at issue is another couple or three months until we have enough people vaccinated that we can safely phase in more normal life. And by the end of September or October, have a real return to normalcy. That’s not too much to ask. And really, what’s at stake here by taking off that mask, by dining indoors is really thousands of peoples’ lives. That just doesn’t seem like a very big burden to save other peoples’ lives, and maybe even your own life, if you happen to get COVID and react badly.”

He further stated that the best and quickest way to get to normalcy is “to adhere to these public health measures, just a couple or three or four more months.”

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