After ‘Very Disturbing Week,’ Dr. Anthony Fauci Says Country Heading In Wrong Direction
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said the recent days of surging coronavirus cases reflected a “very disturbing week” for the United States.
“Right now, if you look at the number of cases, it’s quite disturbing,” Fauci said during a livestream with the American Medical Association. “We’re setting records, practically every day, of new cases in the numbers that are reported. That clearly is not the right direction.”
Live Q&A: Anthony Fauci, MD, @WhiteHouse#Coronavirus Task Force member and @NIAID Director, discusses latest developments in the #COVID19 pandemic. #JAMALive#SARSCoV2https://t.co/M73jT4GNoW
— JAMA (@JAMA_current) July 2, 2020
His comments come amid a series of trouble records amid the ongoing pandemic. Daily cases skyrocketed past 50,000 in the U.S. for the first time this week, and only 14 states are showing declines in the rate of infections. At least six states showed single-day records on Thursday, and the situation has grown so dire that some Republicans who have long resisted safety measures, such as requiring masks, have reversed course.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) reversed his own stance on Thursday, making face masks mandatory in most areas of the state just a day after health officials said over 8,000 more people had tested positive for COVID-19.
Fauci said Thursday that such figures made it “pretty obvious that we are not going in the right direction.”
“We have areas of the country where they were at a level that is difficult and disturbing,” the doctor said. “Then when one tries to open up, even in situations where governors and mayors were trying to abide by the guidelines… that there is this, among some, there’s this feeling of an all-or-none phenomenon where you’re either under lockdown or say, you know, the devil may care.
Fauci went on to say when bars and restaurants reopened with limited social distancing, it was “highly predictable that you’re going to...
