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WASHINGTON (AP) – The government’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said on Friday (Sept. 11) that he disagreed with President Donald Trump’s assessment that the United States has “turned the corner.” on the coronavirus pandemic and said the statistics are worrying.
Fauci, the outspoken director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the United States was starting flu season with a high baseline of about 40,000 new cases per day and deaths averaging about 1,000 per day.
Trump, who has admitted downplaying the severity of the virus since it appeared earlier this presidential election year, said Thursday that he believed the United States was “turning the corner” of the crisis.
“I have to disagree with that, because if you look at what you just mentioned, the statistics … are disturbing,” Fauci said on MSNBC.
“If you’re talking about going back to a degree of normalcy that resembles where we were before COVID, it will be well into 2021, maybe even towards the end of 2021,” he said.
Fauci said he hoped the country would not see an increase in cases after Labor Day weekend like it did after other long weekends since May.
It was important to reduce those infection rates before the fall and winter seasons, when people will be spending more time indoors. “You don’t want to start with such a high baseline now,” Fauci said.
When asked about the open-air campaign rallies Trump has resumed before his Nov. 3 showdown with Democrat Joe Biden, Fauci said they are “absolutely” risky.
“Just because you’re outdoors doesn’t mean you’re protected, especially if you’re in a crowd and you’re not wearing masks,” he said.
Fauci, who has contradicted Trump’s remarks about the virus, denies that the administration is pressuring him to keep quiet.
“Anyone who tries to tell me what to say publicly, if they know something about me, they realize that it is nonsense,” Fauci said. “No one is going to pressure me or gag me into saying something in public.”
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