White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci issued a stern warning that the United States is “going in the wrong direction” as the coronavirus has again spiked in 47 states.
“We are on a very difficult trajectory. We’re going in the wrong direction,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, task force member and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “If things do not change, if they continue on the course we’re on, there’s gonna be a whole lot of pain in this country with regard to additional cases and hospitalizations, and deaths,” Fauci said in an interview with CNBC Wednesday night.
The Trump administration has pushed to underplay the severity of the pandemic spread, with the president even confessing to deliberately downplaying the outbreak’s impact to avoid panicking American citizens.
“The fact is, I’m a cheerleader for this country. I love our country. And I don’t want people to be frightened,” Trump told reporters at the White House last month. “I don’t want to create panic, as you say. And certainly, I’m not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy. We want to show confidence. We want to show strength.”
Almost nine million Americans have tested positive for COVID-19, with more than 22,000 deaths recorded. U.S. hospitalizations are also spiking.
Fauci warns that unless things change, coronavirus could be with us for the long haul.
“I think it will be easily by the end of 2021, and perhaps even into the next year, before we start having some semblances of normality,” Fauci said during a University of Melbourne panel discussion Tuesday.
