Top infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci said that "no matter how you look at" the recent increase in U.S. cases of COVID-19, "it's not good news."
During an interview with Yahoo Finance, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the U.S. was "at the maximum baseline we have ever been" for coronavirus cases, calling the condition "very shaky."
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded record single-day spikes in new COVID-19 diagnoses on Friday and Saturday, with more than 80,000 new cases detected that day. The existing high was 74,818 cases in a day, which was set in July.
"Now, as we're getting into the cold weather, we came back up again to the worst that we've ever had, which was over 80,000 per day," Fauci said.
When questioned whether the spike reflects a third wave of the virus or the extension of the first wave, Fauci noted the situation more like the original first wave being "elongated and amplified."
He said the country never ever had waves in the sense of up and then down to a decent baseline.
"So you know, it's semantics," Fauci mentioned. Regardless of how the wave is being called right now, the expert said it's "not good news."
Is Everyone Missing Something?
In a separate interview, Fauci recently took the chance to warn the public that other super-easy ways to transmit the coronavirus are not just the visible droplets that are expelled as people cough or sneeze that one should to look out for.
In an interview with the YouTube channel The Slo Mo Guys, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that people have an obvious, yet wrong, interpretation that the only way you pass illness is when you cough and sneeze all over someone.
"If you are speaking, even if you don't speak loudly, you have these particles that come out, which can stay in the air for [a while]," Fauci said.
"Some of them fall to the ground - which is why we say keep six feet of distance," he added. However, some particles are aerosolized and can hang around the air for some time.
That's why during this pandemic, Fauci added, face masks are so necessary and essential despite in a scene where all looks perfect and no one coughs or sneezes. People forget that face masks often counterbalance the reality that few people got the COVID-19 without symptoms. So the face mask will help.
Of course, following the basic guidelines like social-distancing, avoiding crowds, and regular hand-washing to curb the coronavirus' transmission will help.
Fauci Remains Optimistic, Though
Fauci expressed his hope regarding the coronavirus vaccine's ongoing tests, stating that findings could be anticipated in late November or early December.
Fortunately, because people are currently grappling with a tough time, perhaps more so when we reach the cooler months of the fall and the colder months of the winter, Fauci said that vaccinations are going on at "very good pace."
The White House member of the task force for coronavirus stressed that the vaccination would" benefit a lot, "but without public health advice such as carrying masks and social distance, it would not be" solving the issue by itself.
"I'm absolutely convinced that as a nation, if we pull together, and do some fundamental common-denominator public health measures, that we can get through this with a lot of help in the future from vaccines and adequate therapies."
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