‘Reopening a little too quickly’: Dr. Megan Ranney explains why she’s worried about complacency as COVID-19 restrictions ease
“If you have a superspreader in one of those events, you’re going to seed this whole surge over again.”
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Dr. Megan Ranney is warning that states like Massachusetts are relaxing COVID-19 restrictions too quickly, expressing concerns that the United States could still see a fourth surge if individuals become complacent about preventing spread of the virus.
The emergency room physician and director of the Brown Lifespan Center for Digital Health appeared on CNN on Monday to break down her worries for viewers and weigh in on the potential trajectory of the pandemic in the coming months.
Ranney told anchor Jake Tapper that while she’s “optimistic” that the United States has most of the winter surge in the rearview, and there is more hope among vaccinated health care workers on the front lines, she is worried about what the coming weeks could bring.
The thing that keeps her “up at night” is watching infections start to tick up again in Europe and seeing people across the United States, who are desperate to get out and leave the pandemic behind, becoming less careful.
“We’re worried about a new surge,” Ranney said. “We’ve been through this movie before and we’re worried that it’s going to come back again.”
The emergency room said she agreed with concerns expressed by Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during a press briefing from the White House COVID-19 Response Team earlier on Monday.
Walensky, the former infectious disease chief at Mass. General Hospital, said she remained “deeply concerned about a potential shift in the trajectory of the pandemic.” Data indicates that the recent declines the U.S. has seen appear to stalling, which, coupled with reports that more and more states are rolling back public health measures put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, has her “really worried,” the CDC director said.
“Please hear me clearly: At this level of cases, with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained,” Walensky said. “These variants are a very real threat to our people and our progress. Now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know can stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, not when we are so close. We have the ability to stop a potential fourth surge of cases in this country. Please stay strong in your conviction.”
CDC Dir. Walensky: ‘Recent declines in cases have leveled off at a very high number … our recent declines appear to be stalling … With these new statistics I am really worried about reports that more states are rolling back the exact public health measures we have recommended’ pic.twitter.com/Bcl80GIud2
— NowThis Impact (@nowthisimpact) March 2, 2021
Ranney told CNN that it is the combination of complacency by individuals and the growing spread of the variants that has her concerned.
If it weren’t for the variants, the doctor said, she would have “more confidence” that the country was going to get through the pandemic soon.
“But we know that some of those variants are more transmissible, and when you combine that with the complacency, with the fact that Massachusetts is opening up indoor gathering and only 10 percent of folks are fully vaccinated, that’s what worries me,” Ranney said. “If you have a superspreader in one of those events, you’re going to seed this whole surge over again. We’ve come so close, we just need to get these vaccines in arms and we’re just reopening a little too quickly.”
Watch Ranney’s full appearance below:
ER Doctor: Complacency and new variants prompt concerns of new surge @meganranney discusses pic.twitter.com/QV4ZElHk3r
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) March 1, 2021
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