Reuters

• Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration, warned that the Northeast could see another wave of coronavirus cases as the virus continues to “rotate through different parts of the country.”

• “I think we’re likely to see this continue where there is going to be these epidemics in different parts of the country and, in compensatory action, to get it under control,” the former FDA commissioner said in an interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” 

• Gottlieb said he thinks while states in the Northeast and New York were “experiencing really a travesty,” “a lot of parts of the country were shut down but were largely unaffected” by the coronavirus, causing a disparity in how some states might respond to surges in infections.

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The former head of the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning that the Northeast could see another surge in coronavirus cases as the virus continues to “rotate through different parts of the country.”

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who formerly served as FDA commissioner, appeared on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday to discuss the impact of the coronavirus epidemic in the Northeast and various parts of the country, where cases in states like New York made up a large majority of US infections.

“We saw a very dense epidemic in the Northeast. They got it under control with very strict lockdowns,” Gottlieb said. “We then saw a dense epidemic in the Sun Belt states. … They’re starting to get it under control. … So as a Sun Belt states are declining right now, we’re seeing infection rates pick up in the Midwest.”

Gottlieb attributed the declines in coronavirus cases with “some actions” the state governments took to mitigate the spread, but it was “more likely with the collective action of individuals starting to withdraw from activity a little bit and wear masks more and express more vigilance,” he added.

However, the former FDA commissioner warned that “it’s going to be hard to keep the virus out” as the virus continues to make its way throughout the US.

“Even in the Northeast right now, it’s going to be hard for that part of the country not to get re-seeded,” Gottlieb said, “and so you’re just seeing it rotate through different parts of the country.”

“I think we’re likely to see this continue where there is going to be these epidemics in different parts of the country and, in compensatory action, to get it under control,” he continued. “And it’s going to be this slow burn, unfortunately, for the rest of the year.”

Gottlieb said he thinks while states in the Northeast and New York were “experiencing really a travesty, a lot of parts of the country were shut down but were largely unaffected” by the coronavirus.

“I think there is some element of the fact that until you’re touched by it, you really don’t appreciate the full significance of this,” he said. “And so I think that there is going to be some residual caution on the part of the states that now have been affected.”

He added: “I hope it’s not the case that every part of the country needs to have some level of epidemic in order to get collective action that’s going to keep this at bay, but there is some element of that.”

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