Director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci sounded the alarm this week warning that another coronavirus variant could quickly spread across the country as the daily case rate continues to rise.
Fauci spoke with McClatchy D.C., telling the outlet that the number of extremely infectious delta variant cases could soon double across the nation.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, delta variant cases –including sub-variants – make up more than 93% of all new cases in the U.S. In the Midwest, that percentage is even higher and the delta variant is especially prevalent in areas with low vaccination rates.
#COVID19 community transmission in the United States is high.
The current 7-day average of daily new cases is 89,463. This is a 43.3% increase from the previous week & a 678.6% increase from the lowest average in June 2021. Get vaccinated. More: https://t.co/KTzQW0TtKJ. pic.twitter.com/KUn68tWsjr
— CDC (@CDCgov) August 4, 2021
Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, said that the country could be “in trouble” unless unvaccinated Americans decide to get the shots.
The agency said on Twitter Wednesday that the current seven-day average of daily new cases is 89,463, a 43.3% increase from the previous week and a 678.6% increase from the lowest average in June 2021.
“What we’re seeing, because of this increase in transmissibility, and because we have about 93 million people in this country who are eligible to get vaccinated who don’t get vaccinated — that you have a significant pool of vulnerable people,” he said.
“And so when you look at the curve of acceleration of seven-day averages of cases per day, it is going up in a very steep fashion,” Fauci noted.
Fauci estimates the U.S. would likely “wind up somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 cases,” as the country fights what he said is a different kind of virus.
As of Thursday morning, the United States had reached more than 35.3 million cases of the coronavirus and over 614,785 deaths.
