President Donald Trump’s repeated stance that the United States is “rounding the turn” on the coronavirus global pandemic has increased concerns among the government’s top health experts.
Many have warned that the country is heading towards a long and potentially deadly winter with “an unprepared government unwilling to make tough choices,” according to The Washington Post.
Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s leading infectious-disease expert, warned in a wide-ranging interview late Friday of what’s to come for the country in the winter months during the pandemic.
“We’re in for a whole lot of hurt. It’s not a good situation,” Fauci said. “All the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season, with people congregating at home indoors. You could not possibly be positioned more poorly.”
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Fauci’s stern warnings come in response to the number of maskless Trump rallies across the country, and cities experiencing record surges in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations. 13 battleground states have reported rising coronavirus cases including Michigan, Texas, Florida, and Wisconsin.
Fauci said the United States needed to make an “abrupt change” in its public health practices and behaviors in response to the virus. He said the country could surpass 100,000 new coronavirus cases a day and predicted fatalities in the next coming weeks.
His response comes as the country hit a new daily record Friday with more than 98,000 confirmed cases, according to The Washington Post.
During his campaign stop in Waterford Township, Mich., Trump downplayed the virus and mocked those who take it seriously, saying that some doctors record more COVID-19 deaths than others because they receive more money.
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“I mean our doctors are very smart people. So what they do is they say, ‘I’m sorry but everybody dies of COVID,’ ” Trump said.
By contrast, the Biden-Harris campaign has taken strides to follow protocols by wearing masks in public and having socially distanced events. Harris cancelled travel for several days when two people who travelled with her tested positive in October, as reported by NPR. When asked about the difference in approaches, Fauci commented that Biden’s campaign “is taking it seriously from a public health perspective.”
Current and former senior administration officials said the White House is entirely focused on a vaccine though health experts warn that it is “unlikely to be a silver bullet” that will end the pandemic.
“Right now, the public health aspect of the task force has diminished greatly,” Fauci said.
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