White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that Covid-19 cases in the United States may plateau again at a very high level, even as the nation rapidly administers three vaccines.
The decline in cases seen since early January now appears to be “going down a little more slowly,” Fauci told the Center for Strategic and International Studies during an interview Tuesday afternoon. “Which means we might plateau again at an unacceptably high level.”
The nation is recording at least 58,100 new Covid-19 cases and at least 1,560 virus-related deaths each day, based on a seven-day average calculated by CNBC using Johns Hopkins University data. The U.S. peaked at close to 250,000 cases per day in early January following the winter holidays. Cases have surged before falling and plateauing two other times over the past year.
Some health experts fear the U.S. could see a “fourth wave” of infections as new, highly contagious variants continue to spread and some states lift restrictions intended to contain the virus. Top U.S. officials, including Fauci, say rolling back restrictions too soon may reverse the downward trajectory in infections and delay the nation’s recovery from the pandemic.
“There’s a light at the end of this tunnel, but we must be prepared for the fact that the road ahead may not be smooth,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said earlier this month.
Fauci on Tuesday urged Americans to wear masks, socially distance and get vaccinated, saying the virus cannot mutate if it can’t infect hosts and replicate.