NIGHTMARE

Fauci: U.S. Could Reach 100,000 New Coronavirus Cases Daily if Spread Not Contained

During Senate testimony, the nation’s top virus expert encouraged states to follow the federal reopening guidelines.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a Senate hearing Tuesday that the U.S. could see as many as 100,000 new coronavirus cases daily “if things don’t turn around.” The nightmare scenario would be a huge increase from the current tally of around 40,000 new cases per day. Fauci also said he was concerned about spiking case counts across the country in states like Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas, encouraging governors to follow the CDC’s reopening guidelines and urge residents to wear masks and practice social distancing. “What we’ve seen in several states are different iterations of that, perhaps maybe in some going too quickly and skipping over some of the checkpoints,” Fauci said.