Celine Gunder, a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s advisory board on COVID-19, said people need to wear masks and social distancing to control the virus in the United States.
Now that we’re more indoors, we need to keep the windows and doors open as much as possible, “she told CBS This Morning Thursday. “We need to get tested frequently, and if someone contacts you, the contract tracker contacts you about potential exposure, please work with them so we can help locate where the virus is spreading.”
Gunder, an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist at the Grossman School of Medicine at New York University and Bellevue Hospital, noted that wearing the mask has become politicized, adding: “It would be like politicizing the use of toilet paper.”
“This is an essential public health measure that we need – we all have to take personal responsibility, for ourselves, our health, the health of our family, the health of our community,” she said. “And we need to cover up. This is something that we can do right now that can make a huge difference in limiting the spread of disease.”
She also said she doesn’t like the word “lockdown,” which refers to an on or off switch, “when we’re really talking about a dimmer switch, or a tweak.”
What we need to “tighten up now” is indoor eating and other things like going to bars and indoor gyms, she said. Indoor eating is a “major cause of infection” and we need to discover innovative ways to do this more eating at Fresh air and “pause indoor dining.”
Watch her full interview:
