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Houston infectious disease expert echoes concern over second wave of coronavirus

"No one taking ownership. Fed Govt punting to the states, governors kicking it to the mayors, now mayors telling local businesses to figure it out."
Credit: @PeterHotez

HOUSTON — *Editor's Note: The video above shows what it's like inside a New York emergency room treating COVID-19; published April 22, 2020*

A world-renowned infectious disease expert at Baylor College of Medicine says he thinks we will see another spike in coronavirus cases later this year.

Dr. Peter Hotez, professor and Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and the Co-director at Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development, took to Twitter to make the prediction.

He said it in a reply to a video in which the mayor of Las Vegas was talking about reopening casinos. In the video, Mayor Carolyn Goodman seemingly shirks the responsibility of safely reopening the public places. She says the responsibility lies with the individual companies.

Hotez said it's a situation he's seeing a lot of lately: "No one (is) taking ownership."

He said the federal government is punting to the states, the governors are kicking it to the mayors and now mayors are telling local businesses to figure it out.

Hotez goes on to say, "We'll have a 2nd #COVID19 peak by fall."

During Wednesday's White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing, President Donald Trump started off by introducing CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, who clarified previous reporting that said he thought the winter would be worse for the coronavirus outbreak. Redfield said he commented that the season would be more difficult while dealing with both the flu season and coronavirus.

Dr. Deborah Birx walked to the podium to address the confusion, saying that we understand the novel coronavirus better now that we did before.

"We're hoping that the flu infections also go down," Dr. Birx said.

Birx went on to say health professionals "want you to get your vaccine" but Birx said health professionals still want to prevent people from getting the flu.

RELATED: Texas' peak in COVID-19 deaths most likely a couple weeks away, UT research shows

RELATED: We would 'see a big resurgence:' Houston doctor warns about dangers of reopening too soon

RELATED: Is Houston ready? Texas will begin reopening process on Monday

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