Dr. Anthony Fauci said the U.S. is “not in a good place” with handling the pandemic as the country heads into the colder months of the fall.
Speaking with Fauci on Monday’s “Good Morning America,” ABC News’ Amy Robach asked, “Back in August, you said the U.S. needed to get to 10,000 cases per day to get some control over this virus. Well, right now, we’re averaging more than 40,000 new cases a day. How would you describe where we are as a nation right now?”
“We’re not a good place with regard to what I had said back then,” Fauci said. “As we get into the fall and the winter, you really want the level of community spread to be as low as you [can] possibly get it as more people, as the weather gets colder here in this country and most parts of the country, people are going to be going indoors.”
“There are certainly parts of the country that are doing well, but … there are states that are starting to show [an] uptick in cases and even some increase in hospitalizations in some states,” he continued. “And I hope not, but we very well might start seeing increases in deaths.”
Fauci also urged listeners to take the pandemic “seriously” and to follow “common sense” public health measures, such as wearing face masks in public to help prevent the spread of the virus.
“Now’s the time actually to double down a bit,” he said.
Watch Fauci’s interview on “GMA” here.