Fauci says he's 'really quite concerned' about 'disturbing surge' of coronavirus cases in some states

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is "quite concerned" as numerous states experience a "disturbing" surge in COVID-19 cases.

Fauci testified before the House of Representatives on Tuesday, and discussed the record numbers of new coronavirus cases in recent days in states like Arizona, Texas, and Florida. Asked to describe what the United States' fight against COVID-19 looks like right now, Fauci said it's a "mixed bag" since some states like New York are doing better, but "in other areas of the country, we're now seeing a disturbing surge of infections."

"An increase in community spread" could explain some spikes, said Fauci, and "that's something that I'm really quite concerned about." He noted that the number of new cases in the country recently surged up to about 30,000, and that's "very troublesome."

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To address this, Fauci said it's necessary to have "the manpower, the system, the testing, to identify, isolate, and contact trace in an effective way," and when it comes to addressing the surges in Florida, Texas, and Arizona, the next few weeks "are going to be critical."

Fauci also reiterated that he believes there's a "reasonably good chance" of having a COVID-19 vaccine by early 2021, and he denied that the White House coronavirus task force has been told to slow down testing, despite President Trump recently saying that he told "my people" to do so.

"In fact," Fauci said, "we will be doing more testing."