Fauci warns 'things are going to get worse' with COVID

He doesn't believe lockdowns are likely to return, however.

ByMolly Nagle ABCNews logo
Monday, August 2, 2021
'Things are going to get worse': Dr. Anthony Fauci
"Things are getting worse:" Jonathan Karl interviews Dr. Anthony Fauci on "This Week."

WASHINGTON -- As the country grapples with a surge in the delta variant of the COVID-19 coronavirus, Dr. Anthony Fauci believes that lockdowns the country saw last year are likely to not return, though he warned "things will get worse" during an interview on ABC's "This Week."

"I don't think we're gonna see lockdowns. I think we have enough of the percentage of people in the country -- not enough to crush the outbreak -- but I believe enough to not allow us to get into the situation we were in last winter. But things are going to get worse," the nation's top infectious disease expert told "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl on Sunday.

"If you look at the acceleration of the number of cases, the seven-day average has gone up substantially. You know what we really need to do, Jon, we say it over and over again and it's the truth -- we have 100 million people in this country who are eligible to be vaccinated who are not getting vaccinated. We are seeing an outbreak of the unvaccinated," he added.

CDC COVID-19 Transmission Levels by U.S. County

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