Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified before the hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) on Capitol Hill in Washington DC on June 30, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | AFP through Getty Images
White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that Covid-19 cases in the United States could pay off again at a very high level, even if the nation quickly administers three vaccines.
The decline in cases seen since early January now appears to be “slowing down slightly,” Fauci told the Center for Strategic and International Studies in a Tuesday afternoon interview. “Which means we may find ourselves on an unacceptably high level.”
The nation has at least 58,100 new cases of Covid-19 and at least 1,560 virus-related deaths each day, based on a seven-day average calculated by CNBC using data from Johns Hopkins University. The United States reached a maximum of almost 250,000 cases a day in early January after the winter holidays. Cases have risen before falling and paying twice more in the last year.
Some health experts fear that the US could see a “fourth wave” of infections as new highly contagious variants continue to spread, and some states lift restrictions on the virus. Senior US officials, including Fauci, say tightening restrictions too early could reverse the downward trajectory of infections and delay the nation’s recovery from the pandemic.
“There is a light at the end of this tunnel, but we need to be prepared for the fact that the road ahead may not be smooth,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said earlier this month.
Fauci on Tuesday asked Americans to wear masks, distance themselves socially and get vaccinated, saying the virus cannot move unless it can infect hosts and replicate.
He also said that the US is now evaluating the impact of “home” variants, including the one believed to have originated in New York. The strain, which researchers call B.1.526, is spreading rapidly in New York and has a mutation that could weaken the effectiveness of vaccines, according to The New York Times.
Last week, Fauci said the Biden administration was “very serious” about the appearance of the New York strain. He said US officials should “follow” the strain, including the possibility that it could evade protection from antibody treatments and vaccines.