Despite the advice of public health experts to avoid traveling for Thanksgiving, Dr. Anthony Fauci says he expects there will be a surge of new COVID-19 cases in the country following the holiday.
But, he said it is “not too late” to take measures to help curb the spread of the virus.
Fauci told NBC News’ Chuck Todd that there would likely be a new surge of coronavirus cases “super-imposed” over the current surge as a result of Americans traveling and gathering for Thanksgiving.
“We’re going to be seeing, as we go now towards the end now and getting into December. We’re seeing a surge with an infliction curve like this,” Fauci said as he gestured with his hand to imply a sharp increase in cases.
He continued:
“The concern we had as we entered the Thanksgiving holiday and as we’re now coming out of the Thanksgiving holiday is that the travel and the people congregating at dinners that you’d expect. We tried to get the word out for people, as difficult as it is, to really not have large gatherings of people, family, and friends but try to keep in confined to the immediate household. But, you know, people are not always going to do that.”
Watch the video below:
TODAY: Dr. Anthony Fauci tells @chucktodd that "it is not too late" to stop the spread of Covid.
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) November 29, 2020
Dr. Fauci: "We might see a surge super-imposed on that surge that we're already in." pic.twitter.com/MAj2g9r1MA
He added, “So what we expect, unfortunately, as we go through the next couple of weeks into December, we might see a surge super-imposed on that surge that we’re already in.”
Still, Fauci said, “It is not too late at all for us to do something about this.”
He went on to say that if Americans follow public health advice and wear masks, practice social distancing, and limit the size of gatherings as they travel back home it would help prevent a massive surge of new cases. He also noted that states that implemented mitigation measures were able to slow the spread of the virus.
In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encouraged Americans to avoid traveling and to spend the holiday at home to help prevent an even larger surge in new cases.
Despite that advice, millions of Americans traveled throughout the country to Thanksgiving gatherings.
