Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus coordinator, today warned that the coronavirus pandemic is more widespread and deadly than when it first took hold in the US earlier this year.
"What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread," Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, told.
Birx's comments come as the US has reported more coronavirus cases and deaths than any other country, and as K-12 schools and colleges prepare to reopen in the fall. The United Faculty of Florida, the union representing the faculty at Florida’s twelve state universities, called on the Governor Ron DeSantis, a close ally of President Donald Trump to reverse his push to have colleges re-open for in-person learning for the fall semester.
Some schools, including FAMU, plan to hold face-to-face classes on Saturday or later in the day to accommodate students who want to learn in person while keeping class sizes small.
The union believes with Florida seeing 10,000 new cases a day, in-person learning cannot be conducted safely.
“We all deserve safe learning and working conditions,” the union said. “If our institutions become hot-spots due to early re-openings, closing campuses mid-term once again would do real harm, mentally, physically, and economically.”
As of Sunday, the US had reported more than 4.6 million cases of Covid-19 and at least 154,449 Americans have died, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University.