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Dr. Anthony Fauci said the United States is facing a resurgence of the coronavirus because the country didn’t take lockdowns far enough during the first wave of the pandemic.
In remarks to BBC Radio’s “Today” on Thursday, Fauci compared the U.S. and Europe’s attempts to halt the spread of Covid-19. He noted that the U.S. has seen a number of “disturbing spikes” recently, which he connected to efforts throughout the country to start reopening.
“What we’ve seen over the last several days is a spike in cases that are way beyond the worst spikes that we’ve seen,” Fauci said. “That is not good news. We’ve got to get that under control, or we risk an even greater outbreak in the United States.”
From there, Fauci remarked that multiple countries in Europe went into a state of lockdown in past months where, as he put it, “97 percent” of nations were completely shut down. “In the United States,” Fauci
“That allowed the perpetuation of the outbreak that we never did get under very good control,” he went on. “And now, all you have to do is take a look at the news at night and you see people congregating at bars without masks, congregating in different types of groups that are well beyond the recommended number. What happens when you do that, and you don’t wear a mask, you get the kind of outbreaks we’re seeing.”
The interview continued with Fauci expressing concern for the rise in anti-science sentiment before and during the pandemic.
“You’ve been losing this battle, haven’t you?” the BBC host asked Fauci regarding that sentiment.
“Admittedly yes, we have,” Fauci said. “We cannot give up because it appears that we’re losing the battle.”
Listen to Fauci above, via BBC.