White House Advisers Warn of ‘Unrelenting’ COVID-19 Spread, ‘Whole Lot of Pain’

The White House coronavirus task force on Thursday warned of a persistent and broad spread of COVID-19 in the western half of the United States, and its members urged aggressive measures to curb the surge of infections.

The hardest-hit areas include a number of battleground states that will play an important role in Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election as Republican President Donald Trump seeks a second term against Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

“We are on a very difficult trajectory. We’re going in the wrong direction,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, task force member and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Fauci said coronavirus cases were rising in 47 states and patients were overwhelming hospitals across the country.

“If things do not change, if they continue on the course we’re on, there’s gonna be a whole lot of pain in this country with regard to additional cases and hospitalizations, and deaths,” Fauci said in an interview with CNBC Wednesday night.

The White House coronavirus task force has warned states in the middle and western parts of the country that aggressive measures will be necessary to curb the virus’ spread, according to weekly state reports seen by CNN.

“We continue to see unrelenting, broad community spread in the Midwest, Upper Midwest and West. This will require aggressive mitigation to control both the silent, asymptomatic spread and symptomatic spread,” one state’s report said.

At least seven states – Indiana, Ohio, Maine, Minnesota, Illinois, North Dakota and North Carolina – reported record one-day increases in COVID-19 cases on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally.

Indiana also reported a record number of hospitalizations, which are soaring across the country, a metric not tied to the amount of testing being done.

As of Thursday, there were 45,457 COVID-19 patients in U.S. hospitals, the highest since Aug. 14.

VIRUS ‘RAGING’