Fauci: Up to 400K Americans could die of coronavirus without safeguards
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies during a Senate hearing in Washington, D.C., in September. Photo: Graeme Jennings/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
NIAID director Anthony Fauci warned during a virtual event hosted by American University Tuesday evening that models show unless necessary precautions are taken for this fall and winter, "we could have 300,000–400,000 COVID-19 deaths" in the U.S.
The big picture: More than 210,8oo Americans have died from the coronavirus, Johns Hopkins data shows. Cases have been rising across the country in recent weeks. Fauci said the U.S. isn't experiencing a second wave. "We're facing a resurgence of the wave we began with," he said, per an American University live tweet from the event. He expects a vaccine to become available by late summer or in the fall of next year.