Dr. Anthony Fauci offered a bleak warning on Monday that "without substantial mitigation" efforts in the coming weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic could "really get bad" in the middle of January.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, joined New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) for a briefing on Monday, and the governor asked Fauci when there might be a peak in COVID-19 cases due to Americans gathering for the holidays. Fauci told Cuomo that the full effect of Thanksgiving travel and gatherings is likely to be seen in "another week, a week and a half from now." But he warned this is "going to come right up to the beginning" of a potential surge due to gatherings for the upcoming winter holidays.
"So you have a surge upon a surge, and then before you can handle that, more people are going to travel over Christmas, they're going to have more of those family and friends gatherings," Fauci said. "If those two things happen, and we don't mitigate well — we don't listen to the public health measures that we need to follow — we could start to see things really get bad in the middle of January."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Without substantial mitigation, the middle of January can be a really dark time for us," Fauci added.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously urged Americans to avoid traveling for Christmas, while CDC Director Robert Redfield said the next few months will likely be "the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation."
In an earlier interview with CNN, Fauci said he has the same concerns about Christmas gatherings and travel leading to an increase in COVID-19 cases as he had prior to Thanksgiving. But, he added, Christmas may be "even more of a challenge." Brendan Morrow
-
Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocratFeature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
-
Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress
-
Government shuts down amid partisan deadlockFeature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the rightSpeed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shotSpeed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
