With coronavirus cases rising in 47 states, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said the United States is “going in the wrong direction”.
Speaking to CNBC’s Shepard Smith, Dr. Fauci warned of pain if the country continues on the course it is on as the virus continues to re-surge in 47 states and hospitalizations on the rise.
“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,” he said.
In New Jersey, hospitalizations hit 1,000 for the first time since July and New York, the most hard hit over the summer, hit half a million confirmed cases earlier this week. Fauci did note that states like New York and Philadelphia may be better equipped for handling a second wave of the virus.
“They never had the kind of hospital and intensive care facility and flexibility that some of the larger hospitals in larger cities have. They’re concerned that if the trajectory continues, they may be in a position where they are going to be strapped for things like intensive care beds,” said Fauci.
In the midwest, cases and hospitalizations are surging at a rapid pace. Wisconsin had a positivity rate of 28 percent and Minnesota reported its highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations to-date, while Hospitalizations in El Paso, Texas have tripled in less than three weeks.
Dr. Fauci told Smith he does not think the United States will take the same lockdown measures other countries have. Australia just re-opened Wednesday after being locked down for the past three months.
“There is very little appetite for a lockdown in this country,” said Fauci. “There’s going to be major pushback both from above and at the local level, however, what Melbourne did, what Australia did as a country, was very successful.”
