Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, on Sunday said he agreed with Joe Biden's assessment that the "darkest days" of the COVID battle are ahead of us.
"I want to ask about something that President-elect Biden said this week. He said, 'The darkest days in the battle against COVID are ahead of us,'" CNN's Dana Bash said. "Dr. Fauci, as you know, over 100,000 of our fellow Americans spent their holiday hospitalized with the COVID-19. We're averaging nearly 200,000 new cases, more than 2,000 deaths each day. Do you agree that the worst is still yet to come?"
"You know, Dana, I do. And the reason I'm concerned and my colleagues in public health are concerned also is we very well might see a post-seasonal in the sense that Christmas and New Years surge," he replied.
Dr. Fauci said he is concerned about the "post-seasonal" surge that he sees as a "surge upon a surge." He described the trends from late fall into early winter as "troubling," especially as Americans gather for Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations.
"You mentioned the numbers yourself quite correctly when you're dealing with a baseline of 200,000 new cases a day and about 2,000 deaths per day, with the hospitalizations over 120,000, we're really in a very critical point," the NIAID head explained. "If you put more pressure on the system by what might be a post-seasonal surge, because of the traveling and the likely congregating of people for the good, warm purposes of being together for the holidays, it's very tough for people to not to do that. Even though we advised them not to it's going to happen."
"I share the concern of President-elect Biden that as we get into the next few weeks it might actually get worse," Fauci concluded.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says he believes the worst is still yet to come in the coronavirus pandemic following the holiday season. “I share the concern of President-elect Biden that as we get into the next few weeks, it might actually get worse.” #CNNSOTU https://t.co/KsKyKgNAG6 pic.twitter.com/xwSdyNyyuG
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) December 27, 2020