Coronavirus: US health official warns of dangerous second wave

Robert Redfield, the CDC director, warned that a wave of coronavirus in the winter would coincide with the flu season. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

A leading US public health official warned on Tuesday that a new wave of coronavirus hitting the US next winter could be “even more difficult” for America to deal with than the current outbreak.

And in a double blow for the prospect of ending the coronavirus pandemic, a US trial of the controversial treatment Donald Trump has referred to as “like a miracle” has produced poor results.

Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) federal agency, warned that a wave of coronavirus next winter would coincide with the normal influenza season.

“There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through,” he said, in an interview with the Washington Post.

“We’re going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time,” he said.

Having two simultaneous respiratory outbreaks would put unimaginable strain on the healthcare system, he told the Post.

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