Dr. Anthony Fauci does not believe that the coronavirus is disappearing right now, as multiple states across the United States continue to combat increases in the virus.
As ABCâs David Muir mentioned the presidentâs recent messaging where he claimed the virus is âdisappearing,â the host asked Fauci during an interview late Monday, âAre you comfortable with those words âthis is disappearing?'â
Fauci responded in saying there are things people can do to help mitigate the virus and get it âunder control,â and added that he does believe it is âachievableâ to get to the point where the COVID-19 outbreak is âquite controlled.â
When pressed again if the virus is âdisappearing at the moment,â the nationâs top infectious disease expert answered, âNo, itâs not.â
âI mean, all youâve got to do is look at the data, David,â Fauci, White House Coronavirus Task Force member, added. âThe virus is telling us what it can and will do if we donât confront it properly.â
There are seven U.S. states and territories that are seeing an increase in coronavirus cases, while 23 states are seeing decreases and the others are mostly the same in cases, according to The New York Timesâ statistics.
Watch Fauciâs interview below:
Fauciâs remarks about the virus come shortly after the president continued to press for schools to reopen this fall, as many are wary of it due to the virus.
While suggesting schools âshould openâ during a Fox News interview last week, Trump said, âThis thing is going away. It will go away like things go away and my view is that schools should be open.â
This was not the presidentâs first time suggesting the virus will go away, as he previously said it âwill disappearâ in early July as several states saw significant spikes in cases.
âWeâre headed back in a very strong fashion with a âV,ââ Trump said at the time during a Fox Business interview. âAnd I think weâre going to be very good with the coronavirus. I think that at some point thatâs going to sort of just disappear, I hope.â
Back in March, CNNâs Jim Acosta confronted Trump about his claims that the virus will disappear. However, Trump at the time, responded, âIt will go away and weâre going to have a great victory.â
There are more than 5.2 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S., with over 166,000 deaths due to the virus and more than 2.7 million reported recoveries, as of Tuesday morning. There has been an 18% decrease in the number of cases during the past week, in comparison to the two weeks prior, according to the Times.
