Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading infectious disease specialist in the United States, warned that there could be another increase in COVID on the way until 15 states face the increase in the number of cases.
The daily national case count has dropped by almost a third in the past month and, by Saturday, more than 118 million doses of vaccine have been administered, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
But health experts fear there may be a resurgence if health measures like wearing masks are relaxed too soon.
Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he was concerned that the flattening of cases is making Americans compliant and that it could portend an increase in the number of cases.
“If you look at the dynamics of the outbreak, we had that big wave in the winter, in the middle of the winter, at the end of the winter, so it started to fall really well,” he said. Today, “and is now stabilized.
“This is not a good thing, because what happened in the past … that when you have this plateau – this is usually the precursor to another wave.”
Dr. Fauci: “… when you have this plateau, it is usually the precursor to another peak. In fact, we saw it in the EU. … They went up like us, went down, stabilized and retreated in masking. At the moment, they are experiencing the beginning of a wave. ” pic.twitter.com/hLIIUgdUfD
– TODAY (@TODAYshow) March 20, 2021
More than a dozen states, mainly in the upper midwest, in the New York area and in the middle of the Atlantic, have seen at least a 10% increase in numbers, according to the ABC News analysis of CDC data.
Fauci highlighted how the United States should pay attention to the European Union, which is about a month ahead of the United States in the dynamics of its outbreak and is currently experiencing a sudden increase in COVID.
Italy’s regions have again entered the most rigid form of blockade, while Germany’s head of public health has warned that a third “massive” wave is beginning. On Friday, Belgium joined France in tightening COVID’s measures.
Fauci said Europe offered a valuable lesson to the United States when telling the NBC program on Saturday: “They went up like us, fell back, stabilized and withdrew their public health measures, masking and things like that”.
“At the moment, they are going through the start of a wave – increases of five or ten percent. I am really concerned if we declare victory prematurely, so this is what will happen.”
This week, Fauci defended wearing masks after an exchange with Senator Rand Paul, who told him during a Senate committee meeting, “you parade with two masks to show off”.
In a clip that was widely seen, Fauci replied, “I can only declare for the record that masks are not theater. I totally disagree with you.”
The chart below provided by Statista compares recently confirmed COVID cases in the US and Europe.
Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images