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Dr. Megan Ranney says now isn’t the time to lift COVID-19 restrictions
Hospitalization rates, levels of COVID-19, and vaccination rates need to be considered before easing COVID restrictions, the doctor said.
Easing COVID-19 restrictions might be on the horizon, but one local doctor is stressing that now is not the time to roll back the virus mitigation measures.
Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency physician and an associate dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told CNN on Thursday that improvements still need to happen before she sees the loosening of public health restrictions as viable.
“Today is not the day,” Ranney said during an appearance on the “Situation Room.” “We are still in the midst of the surge. We still have hospitalization rates that rival those of last winter and we still have over 2,000 Americans dying every day.”
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Ranney said decisions to remove mask mandates and other restrictions need to consider a number of factors including hospitalization rates, intensive care unit capacities, levels of COVID-19 in communities, and vaccination rates.
“When is it going to be time to roll back some of these mandates? I suspect it’s going to be within a month or so,” Ranney told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
She said she would like to see hospitals have 75-80% of their ICU capacity free before restrictions are lifted.
“If you are vaccinated and boosted, if other people in your community are vaccinated and boosted, you are going to be in a much better place,” Ranney said.
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Watch Ranney’s full interview below:
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