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Dr. Fauci testified in person before the Congressional committee on Tuesday.
The leading infectious disease expert in the United States has told lawmakers that the nation is seeing a “disturbing increase” in coronavirus infections in some states.
A panel of health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, said the next few days will be crucial in stopping the new outbreaks.
Cases are increasing rapidly in several states in the US. USA
Four top experts also stated that President Donald Trump never told them to “stop” the tests.
His comments come after Trump said at a weekend rally in Oklahoma that he had asked his team to run fewer tests to help keep the countdown on official cases.
The White House has said his comment was “joking.”
“As far as I know, none of us have been told to slow down the testing,” Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a congressional committee investigating the response from states. Joined to the pandemic.
“In fact, we will do more testing,” he added.
The other three officials, representing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Department of Health and Human Services, also dispute Trump’s comment, saying that he never they were ordered to delay testing.
More than 120,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus, more than any other nation.
What else did the experts say?
Dr. Fauci warned of “a disturbing increase in infection” and “further community spread” in many southern and western states.
“A couple of days ago there were 30,000 new infections,” in a single day, he said. “That is very concerning to me.”
“The next two weeks will be critical in addressing the surge in Texas, Florida, Arizona and other states.”
CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield called the tests “a fundamental basis for our response,” but said social distancing measures are more important ways to prevent the spread of the virus.
Dr. Redfield also asked all Americans to get a flu shot this year, saying the public should “accept flu shots with confidence.”
“This one act will save lives,” he added.
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Dr. Fauci added that he is “cautiously optimistic” that a vaccine will be ready by the end of 2020.
He said it is a question of “when and not if” the vaccine is ready, but added that “it could take some time.”
The pharmaceutical company Moderna has plans to “launch a Phase 3 clinical trial starting in July 2020, pending positive results from this Phase 2 trial,” he said.
