Top Obama Health Official: US Can 'Virtually Eliminate' Covid-19 When 'We Decide To'

In a now-viral tweet thread, the former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services broke down how the country could beat the coronavirus.
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The former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under US President Barack Obama went viral with an extensive Twitter thread over the weekend that explains how America can “virtually eliminate” the coronavirus “any time we decide to.”

Andy Slavitt shared a 38-tweet thread in which he broke down what would have to be done around the country in order to “manage the illness.” In a matter of four to six weeks, he said, the US could “throw the kitchen sink at Covid-19,” and listed everything that can be done to combat the spread of the virus. Slavitt added that if the country were to follow those steps, “the light at the end of the tunnel would be blinding.”

He began the now-viral thread by saying in his first two tweets: “We can virtually eliminate the virus any time we decide to. We can be back to a reasonably normal existence: schools, travel, job growth, safer nursing homes & other settings. And we could do it in a matter of weeks. If we want to.”

COVID Update July 26: We can virtually eliminate the virus any time we decide to. 1/

— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@ASlavitt) July 26, 2020

We can be back to a reasonably normal existence: schools, travel, job growth, safer nursing homes & other settings.

And we could do it in a matter of weeks. If we want to. 2/

— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@ASlavitt) July 26, 2020

He goes on to explain that other hard-hit countries, like many in Europe, have given the US the tools to combat the virus.

In fact pick virtually any country you want. 6/ pic.twitter.com/7n784GcDyC

— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@ASlavitt) July 26, 2020

But don’t tell me the U.S. can’t take action if we want to.

And we can’t face the families of 150,000 people who didn’t have to die & tell them this had to happen.

And I think it’s why our national political leaders won’t go near these families & the grieving process. 7/ pic.twitter.com/mhNH4EdwuY

— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@ASlavitt) July 26, 2020

As for the aforementioned four-to-six-week “kitchen sink” plan, Slavitt proposed six steps that the US could follow immediately “with the goal of being open for business in October — meaning schools, in-person voting, sports, everything.”

So let’s define the kitchen sink:
1. start with universal mask wearing. We didn’t do this in Mar-April and let’s chalk it up to faulty instructions. But we know better now.
2. Keep the bars & restaurants & churches & transit closed. All hot spots.
3. Prohibit interstate travel10/

— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@ASlavitt) July 26, 2020

4. Prohibit travel into the country (no one will let us into their country so that shouldn’t be hard).
5. Have hotels set up to allow people with symptoms to isolate from their families at no cost.

11/

— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@ASlavitt) July 26, 2020

6. Instead of 50% lockdown (which is what we did in March in April), let’s say it’s a 90% lockdown.

Meaning most of the Americans who couldn’t stay home in April because they were picking crops or driving trucks or working in health care would stay home with us. 12/

— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@ASlavitt) July 26, 2020

Slavitt acknowledged that the “economy would take a several week hit” with this plan and “extended unemployment insurance” would be a necessity.

He also added that, at the start of this plan, “Covid truthers would have a field day,” because deaths and cases would still grow. Eventually, however, the rate of transmission would drop.

After a few weeks, what would happen is what happened in other countries. In many countries, the R dropped to .3. Let’s say in the US it dropped to .5.

If you have 60,000 cases in your community, in 50 days, it would drop to 58.
6000 becomes 6.
600 becomes 1.

19/ pic.twitter.com/oMuZ7it2S4

— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@ASlavitt) July 26, 2020

After eight weeks, Slavitt projected that there wouldn’t be a total elimination of cases but there would be “embers.” At that point, he said, the US would have more than enough tests, be able to get them back in a timely manner, have access to ample PPE, and that the key to preventing another surge would be to monitor outbreaks.

“Whether we do this or not, let’s not pretend this isn’t an option,” explained Slavitt in the last third of his thread.

Overall, Slavitt said that his plan is what is going to have to happen at some point — it’s just a matter of when.

We will do this. There is no other way. The question is when. The question is who will convince us. The question is the leadership it takes.

But there’s not much question if we should. /end

— Andy Slavitt @ 🏡 (@ASlavitt) July 26, 2020

As of Monday, the US has seen more than 4.2 million cases of the virus and nearing 150,000 deaths, according to The New York Times.

Donald Trump has repeatedly said throughout the coronavirus pandemic that the virus will “go away” and has been lambasted by critics for his mishandling of the crisis.

Last week, for the first time since the pandemic began, Trump seemed to change his tone and conceded that the outbreaks popping up around the country were a problem. He has not announced any drastic changes in his administration’s response to the crisis despite the tonal shift.


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