Worst of Covid-19 pandemic could be ahead for US, Dr Anthony Fauci warns
- Dr Anthony Fauci expects more dire days ahead as the pandemic continues to rage on through the holidays
- The US has reported the most coronavirus cases, with more than 19 million, and the most deaths
Current and former US health officials have warned Americans of a potential jump in Covid-19 cases after the holidays.
“A surge upon a surge” may be on the way after the Christmas and New Year’s period, Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease doctor, warned on CNN’s State of the Union.
He said he agreed with President-elect Joe Biden’s estimation that the worst of the pandemic could be ahead. Last week, Biden said the “darkest days” of the pandemic were ahead for Americans.
Former US Food and Drug Administration chief Scott Gottlieb said on CBS’s Face the Nation that “we have a grim month ahead of us” after a recent increase in cases, with hospitalisations rising on a lag of a few weeks.
The comments came as the number of confirmed cases in the US passed 19 million and deaths are more than 333,000. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases warned that the US is at a “very critical point” in combating the pandemic after many Americans ignored guidance to avoid travel.
Flying has picked up recently while remaining well below year-ago levels. Figures from the Transportation Security Administration show more than 1 million people moved through US airport checkpoints on five of the past nine days heading into and through the holidays.