EXCERPT:
WEN: "I think it’s important for us to be intellectually honest in this case, and that includes recognizing that circumstances have changed. At the beginning of the pandemic we had a situation where there were many people dying from Covid pneumonia, including healthy young people were dying because of severe shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, they were hospitalized because of it. Then, as a result of vaccines and as a result of a lot of people getting Covid and having some level of immunity to it, we’re seeing far fewer cases of that kind of severe Covid and severe Covid pneumonia specifically. And yet, hospitals are still routinely testing everyone who’s getting admitted for Covid. So, we’re seeing many people who are hospitalized with Covid, and I think it’s important to separate out who is being hospitalized because of it. Because there are a lot of people who are still very concerned about their risk from Covid and we need to give them the most accurate data possible so that they can better gauge their risks. There are people who are still not resuming indoor dining or going to the gym or socializing, and I think we have to give them the most accurate reporting possible."