The director of the country’s infectious disease research organization is predicting that the U.S. will experience more than 100,000 deaths and millions more will be infected wit the novel coronavirus.
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, addressed the global pandemic on CNN’s State Of The Union today(March 29), offering his insight to the government’s decision to loosen the restrictions on social distancing in the areas not so drastically effected by the virus.
“I would say between 100,000 and 200,000 cases,” he said, correcting himself to say he meant deaths. “We’re going to have millions of cases.” He added, “I don’t want to be held to that” because the pandemic is “such a moving target.”
There have been 125,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. as of Sunday morning, with over 2,100 dead. There is certainty that many more have the disease, but their cases have not been reported.
Dr. Deborah Birx, head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said parts of the country with few cases right now must prepare for the inevitable. “No state, no metro area, will be spared,” she said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.
