Dr. Anthony Fauci is weighing in with his thoughts on what Thanksgiving may look like with COVID-19 in the picture.
While Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, noted that there are regions of the U.S that are “looking good,” “we’re starting to see, the midwest and the northwest, an uptick in test positivity, which tends to be a predictor that you’re going to have surges.”
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases went on during Monday night’s interview on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time” to remind how the colder season keeps people inside more which is “more problematic to be able to block the transmission of infection.”
While noting “it depends” on the amount of infection in different regions for how he sees Thanksgiving, Fauci said some Americans are going to have a “relatively normal” holiday while other Americans “better hold off” on larger gatherings for Thanksgiving.
“I’d like to say that everything is going to be great by Thanksgiving…I’m not so sure it is,” he added.
Fauci encouraged “uniform wearing of masks, keeping distance, avoiding crowds,” being outdoors more than indoors, and washing hands. He added that “if, as a country, we actually did it, we wouldn’t be in the position we’re in right now for sure.”
Watch Fauci’s interview below:
"We're starting to see, the midwest and the northwest, an uptick in test positivity, which tends to be a predictor that you're going to have surges," says Dr. Anthony Fauci.
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) October 6, 2020
"I'd like to say that everything is going to be great by Thanksgiving… I'm not so sure it is." pic.twitter.com/l1AaspGMis
Fauci also said that the U.S. is “doing better and better” on testing for coronavirus, but “we’re not exactly where it is you think we should be and where, quite frankly, I think we should be.”
“The fact is, we’re better off now than we were a couple of months ago, that’s for sure,” he added.
The U.S. has more than 7.4 million positive coronavirus cases reported with more than 210,000 deaths due to the virus and over 4.8 million reported recoveries, as of Tuesday morning. The country has an average of 44,280 cases per day reported over the past two weeks, which is up 6% of the average from the two weeks prior, according to The New York Times.
