Former FDA Chief Says No Reason For Another Round of Lockdowns
Dr. Scott Gottlieb appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Monday morning, as he often does, to comment on the coronavirus-related news of the day.
And with many still trying to parse the meaning of this weekend’s latest WHO reversal in its guidance – though, to be sure, Dr. Gottlieb insisted it wasn’t a “flip flop” – the former FDA head, who led Trump’s campaign against teen vaping, claimed that lockdowns were never well-suited to combating the virus.
“We were in a difficult position back in April and May because we didn’t know where the virus was spreading…we ended up implementing a stay at home order nationally when in fact we could have titrated our mitigation much more effectively but we needed to know where the virus was and was not spreading,” Dr. Gottlieb said.
“Now we do have the diagnostics deployed and I believe we’ll be able to fine tune our response as this epidemic starts to affect other regions of the country.”
“Other regions aren’t similarly affected and targeted interventions, or case-based interventions like tracking and tracing, could still work.”
Looking ahead, Dr. Gottlieb said, there’s little reason for lockdowns to be employed in the US, or anywhere in the developing world.
"The idea that we're going to do a national, stay-at-home order … it's just not going to happen," says @ScottGottliebMD. "When history looks back on us, the critical failing is going to be the fact that we were so blind to the spread back in April and May." pic.twitter.com/x7xJP1OvcX
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) October 12, 2020
Former FDA Chief Says No Reason For Another Round of Lockdowns
SHUTDOWN 2? Cuomo Says ‘Another Shutdown’ in New York a ‘Possibility’ if Cases Rise https://t.co/Co0D2tWxD7
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) October 12, 2020