Dr. Anthony Fauci has warned the governors of four US states that they must control new infections.
If they don’t, they could experience a situation similar to what has happened to some southern states that are struggling against a dramatic new surge in infections.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, spoke to “ABC News” during a 35-minute interview broadcast live on Instagram on Wednesday.
Speaking about an “alarming” increase in COVID-19 cases in states like Florida, Texas, California, and Arizona that occurred as a result of the reopening of the country’s economy, Fauci said the nation’s health experts were They are focusing on “a group of other states” that have begun to show a “very subtle increase in positive percentages,” or the percentage of total tests that resulted in positive results.
Specifically, the country’s leading infectious disease expert said Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana are some of the states that need to control the virus.
The increase in the positive percentages is “an infallible indication that you may be having the same type of problems with the states that the southern states had problems with.”
Fauci said he and Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coordinator for the coronavirus task force, warned the governors of those states during a private call Tuesday.
He said they “emphasized” by telling governors that there are some things “they must do to avoid that.”
That includes encouraging people to wear face masks; avoid large crowds; practice social distancing; Avoid going to bars and washing your hands often.
“If we do that, hopefully we will prevent many other states from becoming like the southern states,” he said.
Fauci’s warning came just a day before the other bleak milestone for the country.
On Wednesday, the death toll from coronavirus exceeded the 150,000 mark in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
As of Thursday afternoon, that number increased to 151,650 deaths, among more than 7.4 million cases of COVID-19.
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