Fauci says US in 'bad place' as COVID cases rise, emphasizes need to 'turn this around'

From saying ‘we’re facing trouble’ to the country being in a ‘bad place’, US top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci reiterated his warnings over the handling of COVID-19 pandemic. With COVID-19 cases witnessed an uptick in reportedly over 30 states, the lead member of White House coronavirus task force stressed that the nation has to “turn this around”. In an interview with CNBC on October 12 (local time), the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said, “I think we’re facing a whole lot of trouble.” 

While the new coronavirus infections in the United States are reportedly numbering between 40,000 and 50,000 in a single day, Fauci noted that it is a “bad place to be” especially when the weather is going to get cooler in fall and colder in winter. The US top infectious disease expert said that the percentage of people who are testing positive for COVID-19 is also going in the wrong direction.

In the televised interview, Dr Anthony Fauci said, “So you combine an increase in test positivity, which is always a predictor of more cases, and ultimately more hospitalizations, and ultimately more deaths, and you combine that with a baseline of 40, 45, 50,000 new cases a day as you go into a weather system where you're going to be spending more time indoors rather than outdoors, which is a perfect setup for an acceleration of respiratory-borne diseases — that is unquestionably a problem.”

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Trump downplays COVID-19 severity

Fauci raised concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic while on the other hand, US President Donald Trump is being widely criticised for downplaying the severity of the disease. Trump held the first rally since his COVID-19 diagnosis, hospitalisation at Walter Reed and return to the White House in four days. In a bid to secure his presidency for the second term in US Elections, Trump mocked the disease in front of a packed crowd and said, “I feel so powerful, I'll walk into that audience. I'll walk in there, I'll kiss everyone in that audience.”

Trump said, "I'll kiss the guys and the beautiful women and the --everybody. I'll just give everybody a big, fat kiss."

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Image: AP