We may not have seen the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.
The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns the Washington Post a second wave could be coming in the winter when it would coincide with flu season, and having two respiratory outbreaks at once would strain the health care system.
As of mid-Wednesday afternoon, a total of 46,899 people had died of COVID-19 in the United States.
In an interview Tuesday, CDC Director Robert Redfield said, “There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through. And when I’ve said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don’t understand what I mean.”
The Washington Post reported that during the interview, Redfield said that state and federal leaders need to "prepare for what lies ahead" in the coming months. Leaders need to stress the continuing need for social distancing practices as stay at home and safer at home orders are beginning to be lifted around the country.
Continuing with these practices, we'll help prevent new cases from becoming larger outbreaks.
According to Forbes, Redfield appeared on Good Morning America last week and said that while it's not entirely certain a second wave of coronavirus will happen, leaders need to have plans for that scenario just in case the virus follows a flu-like seasonality pattern.
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