Dr. Anthony Fauci, 81, has pushed back on rumors that he will soon retire, stressing that the COVID-19 pandemic is far from ended.
Fauci appeared adamant to stay when questioned on ABC’s This Week if he was seriously considering quitting a day after saying, “I can’t stay in this job forever.”
On Saturday, the second Chief Medical Advisor to the President in US history was asked if the country was finally ready to move on from the COVID-19 pandemic’s end, and if he planned to take “some time off” whenever that time came.
Fauci warns new wave of COVID-19 cases
Fauci, who is also Joe Biden’s medical advisor and the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, has been a public health expert for more than 50 years and has advised every American president since Ronald Reagan, rising to become the country’s top COVID-19 expert while drawing criticism for the country’s handling of the pandemic.
He hinted at retirement as he cautioned that loosening limitations, declining vaccination protection, and the development of the BA.2 subvariant in the UK and elsewhere could result in a new wave of COVID-19 infections in the United States.
According to Johns Hopkins University, there were roughly 10,918 new cases in the United States over the preceding day, with about 281 new deaths. At the height of the Omicron outbreak, the United States had an all-time high of over a million new infections each day, Daily Mail reported.
According to one of President Joe Biden’s closest aides, a probable increase in COVID-19 cases in the United States will not result in a full-scale outbreak or the reintroduction of extensive restrictions.
New COVID-19 subvariant spreads in Europe, Assia
The BA.2 subvariant of Omicron is causing an increase in incidence in Europe and Asia, particularly in Hong Kong, and currently accounts for roughly 30% of infections in the United States, where indoor-mask and vaccine regulations have been largely relaxed.
The United States, on the other hand, “Right now, at this moment,” Fauci said, “I don’t see it.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has suggested that the US should be prepared to resume measures like enforcing masks in indoor public spaces.
Although BA.2 is around 50% more transmissible than the first Omicron variant, it does not cause more severe illness or evade immunity from vaccinations or an earlier infection, according to Fauci.
Fauci and Vivek Murthy, the US Surgeon General, pushed Congress to adopt a long-stalled package of new COVID–19 assistance. The White House has requested $22.5 billion in funds, stating that it would soon be forced to curtail programs and will be unable to purchase additional therapeutic treatments, as per Bloomberg.
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