Dr. Anthony Fauci sees a potential wave of coronavirus cases hitting the Northeast in the near future, but he suggested that it’s totally preventable.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Monday that it’s not too hard to get ahead of a coronavirus outbreak in the Northeast.
- There’s some speculation that the coronavirus might hit the Northeast similar to how it hit the South in recent weeks.
Fauci told CNN that mitigation efforts — like wearing masks indoors, social distancing and increased vaccination rates — can help slow the spread.
- “It is within our power, and within our grasp, to prevent that from occurring,” Fauci said.
Back in early September, Scott Gottlieb, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, suggested that the Northeast, which had avoided a massive delta variant surge so far, might see a delta variant wave. He said this would be the beginning of a true delta wave.
- “I don’t think that that was the true delta wave. I think that that was a delta warning. I think our true delta wave is going to start to build after Labor Day here in the Northeast and the northern part of the country,” Gottlieb said on CNBC.
More recently, Gottlieb suggested in an interview with CNN over the weekend that the ongoing surge might be the final wave of the coronavirus.
- “This delta wave is going to surge across the country and hit different regions at different times,” he told CNN.
- “This may be the last major wave of infection,” he added.