A doctor on the front lines of battling coronavirus in the US said this week that the rapid spread of the deadly bug has risen to the level of an “outbreak” — and possibly even a “pandemic.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force, told NBC Nightly News’ Richard Engel Monday that the illness — which has infected 100 people, killing six in the US — is “an evolving situation.”
“We’re dealing with clearly an emerging infectious disease that is now reached outbreak proportions and likely pandemic proportions,” he said. “If you look at, you know, by multiple definitions of what a pandemic is, the fact is this is multiple sustained transmissions of a highly infectious agent in multiple regions of the globe.”
Fauci urged the public not to compare the coronavirus to the seasonal flu — because the impact of the new bug can be far worse.
“When you have a brand new virus, in which no one has had any experience before, that kind of gives the virus an open roadway to spread,” he said.
He also warned of the infection’s alarming mortality rate.
“If you look at the people who have just come to the attention of the health authorities, that’s 2 to 2-and-a-half percent,” Fauci said. “But even if it goes down to 1 percent, that’s still very, very serious.”
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11.27.2024