The CDC Warns the Current Pandemic Crisis May Be Just the Opening Act

Even as some states report that the much-discussed “curve” is actually starting to flatten, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns against perceiving that to mean the worst is over for the U.S. CDC Director Robert Redfield, MD suggested that a second wave could actually be worse than this one if it occurs in the fall, just as the next influenza season is getting started—which some health officials and researchers say is a distinct possibility. The “good” news is that, to date, the death toll has actually been lower than some models predicted. While 45,000 have died here, it was first feared that the number of fatalities would be as high as 200,000. The lower number does not mean that COVID-19 is less severe than it was expected to be, but that measures to slow its spread have been effective. The CDC has stressed repeatedly that those measures should continue for an undetermined period of time—and that clinicians should encourage patients to get flu shots more strongly than ever come the fall.