Italy prepares for phase two of COVID-19 response efforts as US warns of toughest week yet
Former House speaker and Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich joins 'Fox & Friends.'
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While Italy’s coronavirus cases are slowing down, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said on Monday that countries all over the world are going to have to prepare for the second wave of infections.
“And that means a lot more in testing equipment, a lot more investing in the right therapies, and frankly, I think a more methodical approach to this that looks at individuals, not just at huge populations,” Gingrich told “Fox & Friends.”
SCIENTISTS OFFER HOPEFUL NEWS ON COVID-19 VACCINE BASED ON VIRUS' MUTATION RATE
Gingrich credited Singapore, Sweden, and South Korea for doing a “much better job” combatting the outbreak with much “less economic damage,” specifically because of how quickly they ramped up testing to identify virus hotspots and contain the spread. Gingrich also said that Italy’s cases plateauing is “encouraging.”
"We can do better than we have done," he said, speaking from Italy, where his wife Callista serves as U.S. ambassador to The Vatican.
Italy’s efforts to combat coronavirus finally appear to be paying off, new data suggests.
Since instituting a nationwide lockdown on March 9, the nation has seen a slowdown in its daily increase in total cases. The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins has been tracking the numbers since the start of March.
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Silvio Brusaferro, president of the National Institute of Health, claimed that Italy seemed to be arriving at a plateau, largely thanks to the strict measures the nation has taken.
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In the run-up to March 9, Italy saw a near-constant daily increase by around 24 percent. Over the past four days (3/30 to 4/2), the average daily increase in total cases only went up around 4.2 percent -- down from an average of 7.1 percent over the previous week.
In a Fox News Opinion piece, Gingrich said coronavirus "has effectively shut down the American economy. As the federal government advises social distancing and governors across the country implement stay-at-home orders to mitigate the virus, Americans are not going out to spend money."
"In this environment, many businesses are struggling to survive, forced to lay off workers. Indeed, the economy shed 701,000 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate rose from 3.5 percent the prior month to 4.4 percent, according to the latest jobs report. The situation is going to get worse in the coming weeks before it gets better," he added.
Fox News' Peter Aitken contributed to this report.
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