The slow growth in coronavirus cases in North Carolina relative to New York and some other states puts North Carolina in better position to respond to the pandemic, according to a Duke University professor.
Economist Mark McClellan, the director of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, was U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner during the SARS epidemic in 2003. He said North Carolina has a chance to get ahead of the new coronavirus if it acts quickly.
“I think North Carolina is a little bit lucky in that it’s not seeing as much of a rapid growth in cases as other, more urban, densely populated areas around the country are facing right now. That’s given the state the advantage of a little more time for preparation,” McClellan said Friday. “That’s not to say that those preparations should slow down. It just means that we’ve got more of an opportunity to make sure that the supplies – ventilators, hospital beds – [are in place] and also support for patients with milder illnesses so they don’t go to the hospital.”
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