Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House Coronavirus Taskforce, addresses his remarks at a coronavirus update briefing Monday, March 16, 2020, in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by D. Myles Cullen)
Official White House Photo by D. Myles Cullen
Official White House Photo by D. Myles Cullen
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House Coronavirus Taskforce, addresses his remarks at a coronavirus update briefing Monday, March 16, 2020, in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by D. Myles Cullen)
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(Washington) — The nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases and member of the White House’s coronavirus task force says the pandemic could kill 100,000 to 200,000 Americans and infect millions.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said based on modeling of the current pace of the coronavirus’ spread in the U.S. “between 100,000 and 200,000” people may die from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Fauci’s comments on CNN’s State of the Union underscore just how far away from the peak of the outbreak the U.S. is based on predictions from top federal officials. As of early Sunday afternoon, there were 125,000 cases in America and nearly 2,200 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Public health experts say because of undocumented chains of transmissions in many parts of the country, the number of new coronavirus cases in America is set to keep surging as more and more test results become known.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says there could potentially be between 100,000 to 200,000 deaths related to the coronavirus and millions of cases. “I just don’t think that we really need to make a projection when it’s such a moving target, that you could so easily be wrong,” he adds. #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/F2MOHY3xl4
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) March 29, 2020
Fauci said the 100,000 to 200,000 death figure is a middle of the road estimate, much lower than worse-case scenario predictions.
He said preparing for 1 to 2 million Americans to die from the coronavirus is “almost certainly off the chart,” adding: “now it’s not impossible, but very, very unlikely.”
However, Fauci cautioned people not to put too much emphasis on predictions noting that, “it’s such a moving target, that you could so easily be wrong and mislead people.”
What we do know he says is, “We’ve got a serious problem in New York, we’ve got a serious problem in New Orleans and we’re going to have serious problems in other areas.”
Fauci’s coronavirus fatality estimate comes as the White House considers ways to reopen the economy, including easing social distancing guidelines that officials set forth to curb the spread of the fast-moving virus.
One in three Americans are now being asked to stay indoors as new cases soar, especially in New York, which accounts for nearly half of the country’s cases.
When asked if it is the right time to begin relaxing some of the social distancing measures, Fauci said not until the curve of new infections starts flattening out.
He refused to guess when exactly that may occur.
“The virus itself determines that timetable,” Fauci said.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
