Fauci: Colorado can avoid new lockdowns by mitigating contact in coming weeks

DENVER — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading public health expert on COVID-19, said Colorado is among the states close to being overrun by hospitalizations in the coming month but has the ability to prevent a new round of stay-at-home orders.

Fauci made the comments during a remote conference with Gov. Jared Polis, who is currently recovering from COVID-19 after testing positive late last week. Polis said he and first gentleman Marlon Reis are doing well.

Fauci described the current spike of infections across the country as a surge beyond what prompted the initial shutdowns in the spring. He warned that the next 30 days pose even greater threats to the ability of providers to care for patients if people shop for Christmas in crowded stores and gather for the end-of-year holidays and New Year’s Eve.

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However, he said Colorado and the rest of the country have the ability to avoid that scenario by wearing masks when in public, washing hands and practicing social distancing en masse.

“I think if you start to see over running of your hospitals in your health-care systems, I can assure you that there will be serious consideration for lockdown,” he said. “But what I’ve been saying now for weeks and weeks, if not months, is that you don’t have to resort to lockdown.”

In particular, Fauci said restaurants and bars are the largest spreaders of the virus as of late because they gather unrelated people in confined spaces while not wearing masks as they eat. 

When asked about the state’s proposal that would certify in-person businesses as following COVID-19 protocols, he said the emphasis must be on taking every precaution possible.

“I think it’s appropriate to at least examine if you’re going to consider indoor dining, what’s the safest way to do it?” he said. “If you can’t figure out a way that’s the safest way to do it, then you may say we can’t do it. But if you’re going to do it, at least do it in the safest way possible.”

Fauci was upbeat on recent news of multiple vaccine candidates being submitted for emergency approval by federal drug regulators. He said 40 million vaccines could be deployed for health-care workers and high-risk individuals by the end of the month, and vaccines could be available for the broad public as soon as mid-to-late April.

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