Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Thursday that more states could target a coronavirus outbreak.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House Coronavirus Working Group, noted that if the southern states and California were to begin to see a decrease in cases, other states could simply move in that direction.
“That’s what bothers me is that we’re starting to see the impression of increases in the percentage of tests that are positive … we now know, from an unhappy experience beyond, that this is a predictor that they will have more waves,” he added. Fauci said in a verbal exchange Thursday with National Geographic.
Michigan experienced an increase in its positivity rate in late July, from approximately 2.2% to 3.4%. This led Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, to re-impose restrictions on bars and meetings inside in parts of the state.
Other states that appear to have an increase in their positivity rates include Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.
Fauci warned that a national strategy was needed to combat the virus.
“Unless we all come together … and that we don’t have disparities [where] some states do this and others, we’re going to have ups and downs,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m not satisfied with the way things go.”