Fauci: U.S. Could Reach 100,000 Daily Coronavirus Cases

WASHINGTON, DC — Testifying before a Senate health committee on Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci said if Americans don’t start following public health recommendations, he would "not be surprised" if the United States reaches 100,000 new coronavirus cases per day.

Fauci, one of the nation's top infectious disease experts, testified alongside other senior officials at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee hearing on reopening schools and workplaces.

At the hearing, he said the United States is “going in the wrong direction” with the coronavirus surging badly enough that some regions are putting the entire country at risk.

“We’ve got to get the message out that we are all in this together,” by wearing masks in public and keeping out of crowds, said Fauci, infectious disease chief at the National Institutes of Health.

Connect the dots, he told senators: When and how school buildings can reopen will vary depending on how widely the coronavirus is spreading locally.

“I feel very strongly we need to do whatever we can to get the children back to school,” he said.

When asked to forecast the outcome of recent surges in some states, Fauci said he couldn't make an accurate prediction but believes it will be “very disturbing.”

Lawmakers pressed other officials for what Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the committee’s top Democrat, called a national vaccine plan — to be sure the race for the COVID-19 vaccine ends with shots that really are safe, truly protect and are available to all Americans who want one, according to The Associated Press.

“We can’t take for granted this process will be free of political influence,” Murray said.