Experts Offer New Plan for Living With COVID

US hasn't reached the 'endemic' stage yet, report says
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 7, 2022 8:05 PM CST
Experts Offer New Plan for Living With COVID
President Biden speaks about the government's COVID-19 response in January in Washington.   (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

A group of experts made more than 250 recommendations to the Biden administration Monday for a more robust response to COVID-19, warning that the disease has not yet faded to "endemic" levels. A report from the group partly builds on the White House plan released last week on achieving a less disruptive life with COVID while specifying additional steps, the Washington Post reports. It's too early to declare victory, said the experts, who warn against "complacency, inaction, or premature triumphalism" in their report. "The nation is not yet at the next normal," they said.

"It's an attempt to have a more disciplined approach to dealing with this crisis, providing a vision for what 'next' might look like," said Luciana Borio, one of the authors, per STAT News. The group of experts includes researchers, former COVID advisers to President Biden's transition team, and former leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Their report recommends steps involving:

  • Other viruses: The US should shift from concentrating only on fighting COVID—with prevention, mitigation, and treatment—to focusing on other respiratory viruses as well, including the flu.
  • Long COVID: The report calls for a more multifaceted approach than is detailed in the White House plan. It would include studies that move more quickly than the government efforts have, creating a long COVID task force, and having the Social Security Administration make sure that long COVID patients can receive disability benefits.
  • Air quality: Building codes should be changed, and air-quality results should be posted at buildings. Government subsidies are needed to improve air quality in low-income communities and homes. The group said these recommendations go beyond the White House plan's.
  • Rebuilding trust: Steps to help agencies such as the CDC restore public trust should include improving transparency about how it makes its decisions and countering skepticism by releasing a "steady drumbeat" of advice based on scientific evidence.
(More COVID-19 stories.)

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