Dr. Fauci Tells Savannah Guthrie ‘We Have Not Yet Seen the Post-Thanksgiving Peak,’ Despite Case Surge

As the nation continues to see coronavirus cases rise, surpassing increasingly grim milestones,  Dr. Anthony Fauci told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie that the United States has not even seen its post-Thanksgiving peak yet.

Guthrie asked Fauci if the state of the country is worse than he had feared while interviewing him on the Today Show Friday, referencing the recent surge.

Fauci admitted that the country’s current coronavirus count is as least as bad as he had imagined last Spring.

”We really have to intensify our public health measures to try and blunt this trajectory, which is really significant,” he said, noting that people are congregating more and spending more time indoors.

“We are in a very precarious situation right now,” Fauci said. “There certainly is light at the end of the tunnel with a vaccine, but we’re not there yet.”

The interview comes a day after data from the Centers for Disease Control suggested that the true cumulative U.S. death toll is roughly 400,000 lives lost.

“I think we have not yet seen the post-Thanksgiving peak,” Fauci told Guthrie despite the shocking numbers. “That’s the concerning thing. Because the numbers in and of themselves are alarming, and then you realize that it is likely we’ll see more of a surge as we get two and three weeks past the Thanksgiving holiday.”

Fauci noted that with Christmas coming up, things will likely get worse.

“The thing that concerns me is that abuts right on the Christmas holiday as people start to travel and shop and congregate,” Fauci said of the proximity of the two holidays. “So that’s the reason why we plead with them, to please, as best as you can — the uniform wearing of masks, keep distancing to the best possible way you can, avoid crowds and congregate settings.”

Watch above, via NBC.