Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned that if the coronavirus outbreak does not get “globally under control,” it is likely to become a recurring problem.
Fauci echoed officials who warned that the coming week will be a bad one with the number of deaths expected to increase to a “shocking” degree, but said that social distancing practices will help flatten the curve of cases.
“Unless we get this globally under control there’s a very good chance that it will assume a seasonal nature,” Fauci told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
Fauci said that people must be prepared for a resurgence next year, which is why officials fighting the pandemic are pushing for a vaccine and clinical trials for therapeutic interventions so “we will have interventions that we did not have” when this started.
Fauci and other members of the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force have warned that the coming week is going to be a painful for many Americans, and he bucked the idea that the pandemic is under control.
“That would be a false statement,” he said. “We are struggling to get it under control, and that’s the issue that’s at hand right now.”
Most states in the U.S. currently have stay-at-home orders requiring people to keep from going out in public. Delivering a message to those in states without stay-at-home orders, Fauci emphasized the need for social distancing.
A very simple guidelines of physical separation,” he said, using examples of avoiding movies and crowds of ten people, as well as staying 6 feet apart from other individuals.
“Even in areas where you’re not having a big explosion of cases, to the best of your ability do that,” “Because this virus doesn’t discriminate whether you’re in a small town in a relatively secluded areas of the country versus whether you’re in a big city.
Stay safe y’all.