Fauci warns U.S. must 'hunker down' for a fall and winter that won't 'be easy'

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies during a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing on July 31, 2020 in Washin
(Image credit: Erin Scott-Pool/Getty Images)

The nation's top infectious disease expert is warning that Americans will need to "hunker down" for a difficult fall and winter.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, spoke this week on a panel with Harvard Medical School doctors, during which he made his warning about the coming months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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He went on to observe that "every time" restrictions are lifted during the coronavirus crisis, "we get a blip," adding, "it's whack-a-mole."

This warning from Fauci comes as the United States reports an average of around 36,000 new COVID-19 cases a day, CNN notes. Previously, when the number of daily cases was around 50,000 or more, Fauci stressed the need to get this down to 10,000 by September.

"If we don't get them down," Fauci said in August, "then we're going to have a really bad situation in the fall."

With the United States' daily coronavirus cases having not declined as much as Fauci had hoped they would by now, he said this week, "I keep looking at that curve and I get more depressed and more depressed about the fact that we never really get down to the baseline that I'd like." Brendan Morrow

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.