Dr. Fauci Says Never Go Here Now
It's been less than a year since the first COVID-19 cases were detected in the United States, and we are currently experiencing the worst surge of the virus thus far. As infections, hospitalizations, and deaths peak across the country, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warns that there is one type of place or situation you should avoid at all costs in order to prevent the spread of the virus. Read on—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don't miss these Sure Signs You've Already Had Coronavirus.
Dr. Fauci Says Gatherings are the Primary Driver of the Spread
In an interview with NPR, Dr. Fauci confirmed that things will go from bad to worse in the next few weeks, due to one major factor.
"As we get into the next couple of weeks in January, that likely will be a reflection of the holiday season travel and the congregate settings that usually take place socially during that period of time," he revealed. "We've seen following most events that require travel and … have people, you know, understandably getting together in a social setting. So we believe things will get worse as we get into January."
While it is inevitable that infections, hospitalizations and deaths will increase, we can flatten the curve if we take preventative measures.
"Hopefully, if we really accelerate our public health measures during that period of time, we'll be able to blunt that acceleration," he said. "But that's going to really require people concentrating very, very intensively on doing the kinds of public health measures that we talk about all the time. Now's not the time to pull back on this."
This—along with the acceleration of the vaccine program that will hopefully be implemented by President Elect Joe Biden—will help us flatten the curve.
"We want to get it to 1 million vaccinations per day, as the president-elect has mentioned," he continued. "The idea about having everyone for at least 100 days — at least — wear a mask. Everyone uniformly, so we don't have disparities where some people are adhering to public health measures and others are not. And then also a greater interaction, cooperation between the federal government and the states, instead of letting the states in some respects do things on their own to help them not only with plans, but with resources."
RELATED: 7 Tips You Must Follow to Avoid COVID, Say Doctors
How to Survive This Pandemic
As for yourself, follow Fauci's fundamentals and help end this surge, no matter where you live—wear a face mask, social distance, avoid large crowds, don't go indoors with people you're not sheltering with (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene, get vaccinated when it becomes available to you, and to protect your life and the lives of others, don't visit any of these 35 Places You're Most Likely to Catch COVID.
