'We're not in a good place': Dr Anthony Fauci warns the US needs to double down to stop COVID-19 infections rising ahead of the fall - and says Florida's decision to reopen bars and restaurants is 'very concerning'
Dr Anthony Fauci has warned the United States in 'not in a good place' regarding rising COVID-19 infections ahead of the fall as he described Florida's decision to reopen bars and restaurants a full capacity 'very concerning'.
Fauci warned Americans not to become complacent as the colder weather kicks in and said the current 40,000 average number of cases per day was worrying.
'We're not in a good place,' he told ABC's Good Morning America on Monday.
'As we get into the fall and the winter, you really want the level of community spread to be as low as you possibility get it.
'There's certainly parts of the country that are doing well but… there are states that are starting to show uptick in cases and even some increases in hospitalizations in some states.
Dr Anthony Fauci warned Americans not to become complacent as the colder weather kicked in and said the current 40,000 average number of cases per day was concerning
“That is very concerning to me.”
— Good Morning America (@GMA) September 28, 2020
Dr. Anthony Fauci says now the time is to double down, not ease restrictions, in regards to Florida’s decision to open up bars and restaurants. https://t.co/MijCNMRWTN pic.twitter.com/kZ2WbZsObk
“That is very concerning to me.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci says now the time is to double down, not ease restrictions, in regards to Florida’s decision to open up bars and restaurants. https://t.co/MijCNMRWTN pic.twitter.com/kZ2WbZsObk
'I hope not, but, we very well might start seeing increases in deaths.
'You don't want to be in a position like that as the weather starts getting cold. So we really need to intensify the public health measures that we talk about all the time.'
When asked about Florida Governor Rick DeSantis' decision to reopen bars and restaurants at full capacity over the weekend, Fauci said it was 'very concerning'.
'Well that is very concerning to me, I mean, we have always said that, myself and Dr Deborah Birx, who is the coordinator of the task force, that that is something we really need to be careful about,' he said.
'When you're dealing with community spread, and you have the kind of congregate setting where people get together, particularly without masks, you're really asking for trouble. Now's the time actually to double down a bit, and I don't mean close.
When asked about Florida Governor Rick DeSantis' decision to reopen bars and restaurants at full capacity over the weekend, Fauci said it was 'very concerning'. Pictured above is a bar in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fauci said reopening bars was 'asking for trouble' because it allowed people to congregate together
'When I say that, people get concerned that we're talking about shutting down. We're not talking about shutting anything down, we're talking about common sense type of public health measures that we've been talking about all along.'
When pressed on what he thinks could cause a second shutdown amid the pandemic, Fauci said he didn't want to 'go there'.
'Obviously, if things really explode you'd have to consider that. But we want to do everything we possibly can to avoid an absolute shutdown,' he said.
Currently, the average number of COVID-19 cases per day is at 40,000. There was an uptick in national infections in mid-September, which health experts have partly attributed to Labor Day weekend gatherings and the reopening of some schools.
Prior to the increase, cases had been trending downwards nationally since July when about 70,000 infections were being reported daily.
Deaths now appear to be plateauing nationally after declining steadily since mid-September.
The average number of Americans dying per day is at just over 740, which is down from the peak 2,000 deaths being reported per day back in April.
