WATCH: Dr. Anthony Fauci Says The Coronavirus Pandemic In The U.S. Is ‘Really Not Good’

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert said that the handling of coronavirus in the U.S. is “really not good,” warning that more serious measures are needed to lower the recent rise in the infection rate.

During a Facebook Live interview with National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins, Fauci expressed concern over the current situation with the coronavirus in the U.S.

The country has recently seen a new record high of cases across 31 states, with 50,000 new cases a day. Almost three million Americans have tested positive with coronavirus and nearly 130,000 Americans died, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

“We are still knee-deep in the first wave of this. And I would say, this would not be considered a wave. It was a surge, or a resurgence of infections superimposed upon a baseline,” said Fauci.

Fauci said that unlike Europe, where the curve has gone down before the reopening started, the U.S. “never came down to baseline” and they “have to address immediately.” He also expressed his concern over states reopening too quickly, warning that the country “should use the public health effort as a vehicle and a pathway to get to safe reopening.”

“A series of circumstances associated with various states and cities trying to open up in the sense of getting back to some form of normality has led to a situation where we now have record-breaking cases,” said Fauci.

Last week, Fauci also spoke before Congress, warning that if citizens don’t follow safety guidelines over the summer, coronavirus infections could increase to 100,000 daily cases a day, adding that he was “very concerned.”

Fauci also addressed the vaccine trials being conducted in the U.S, saying that he and Collins are “making sure that the trials are quite well represented by the individuals who are most susceptible, not only to infection because of certain circumstances in their life, but also the fact that they are more prone to complications because of underlying co-morbidities.”

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Article by Polina Kuznetsova