After a recent rise in coronavirus cases, the three healthcare associations are recommending Americans to continue to take precautions to stop the spread of COVID-19.
The American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, and the American Nurses Association released an open letter Monday morning urging Americans to continue to take precautions during the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as states reopen.
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These include the "simple steps" of mask-wearing, maintaining social distance, and washing hands to stop the spread of the virus.
"… as physicians, nurses, hospital and health system leaders, researchers, and public health experts, we are urging the American public to take the simple steps we know will help stop the spread of the virus," the letter said.
According to The New York Times, there are currently nine states that have reopened, 22 states that are in the process of reopening, and six states that are reversing their opened status.
The letter continued: "… in the weeks since states began reopening, some of the steps that were critical to the progress we made were too quickly abandoned. And we are now watching in real-time as a dramatic uptick in COVID-19 cases is erasing our hard-won gains.”
On Sunday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released data that showed an increase of 52,228 new coronavirus cases from the day before were reported in the United States, with a total case count exceeding 2.8 million.
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The letter mentions Dr. Anthony Fauci's comment to Congress last week warning that "the U.S could see 100,000 new coronavirus cases each day if we do not take more precautions."
"Moving forward, we must all remain vigilant and continue taking steps to mitigate the spread of the virus to protect each other and our loved ones," the letter said in closing. "There is only one way we will get through this – together."
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Melanie Blackman is a contributing editor for strategy, marketing, and human resources at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.