Sunday Talk Shows

FDA commissioner: US ‘very close to the peak’ of pandemic

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn said Sunday that the U.S. is “very close to the peak” of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Co-host Martha Raddatz asked Hahn on ABC’s “This Week” about the latest models showing that the apex of the country’s death rate would occur on Easter Sunday. 

“The models do show that we are very close to the peak, so I think that information is accurate,” Hahn responded. “This has been a really fast-moving outbreak, so we really have to take this day by day.”

Hahn cautioned the country needs to have a “data-driven approach” as it takes the pandemic “day by day as the data come in.”

{mosads}The FDA commissioner told Raddatz that “it’s too early to be able to tell” a specific reopening date after he was asked about President Trump’s consideration of a May 1 target.

“It is a target, and obviously we’re hopeful about that target, but I think it’s just too early to be able to tell that,” he said.

He added, “We see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Trump had initially pushed for an Easter Sunday reopening date but backtracked after public health officials warned against a premature reopening. The president has announced social distancing practices should continue through April 30 while considering restarting the economy on May 1.

But some public health officials warn May 1 could be too early. Virginia’s stay-at-home order extends until June, and schools across the country are closing for in-person instruction for the rest of the school year. 

There are more than 530,000 confirmed cases in the U.S. with at least 20,608 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Tags Coronavirus COVID-19 Donald Trump FDA Food and Drug Administration Sunday shows

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