Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Tuesday that it is possible that 400,000 Americans could die from COVID-19 if precautions are not taken for the fall and winter months. Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as well as the country’s leading expert on coronavirus.
“The models tell us if we don’t do what we need to in the fall and winter, we could have 300,000-400,000 COVID-19 deaths,” Fauci shared at a virtual event held by American University.
This expands upon a study from the University of Washington published in August that at least 300,000 Americans could die from COVID-19 by December of this year.
The current death toll is over 210,000 and over 7.5 million cases, as confirmed by data from Johns Hopkins University.
Fauci also shared that despite the White House and President Donald Trump telling Americans a vaccine would be available in the next few months, he would “like to say spring, but… I think it’s much more likely in the late summer.”
Trump tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, spent three nights at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and returned to the White House on Monday. The White House has become a national coronavirus infection hot spot following Trump’s infection.
