White House Health adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that he doesn’t expect a return to “real normality” until next year as some states have reported recent spikes in COVID-19 cases.
Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told The Telegraph that some restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, such as bans on international travel, could remain in place until a vaccine is developed.
“I would hope to get some degree of real normality within a year or so. But I don’t think it’s this winter or fall,” Fauci said.
The United States leads the world in COVID-19 deaths and cases, with a death toll of 115,578 and a total of 2,083,082 cases, according to figures by John’s Hopkins University.
As some states have reported spikes in new cases in recent weeks, Fauci said that he anticipates cycles of the virus “coming back and forth” before a return to normalcy and warned that states must maintain measures to contain the virus or risk facing another “full-blown” outbreak.
“The question is will they have the capacity to do the appropriate and effective isolation and contact tracing to prevent this increase from becoming a full-blown outbreak?” Fauci said. “I’m concerned it’s happening. I hope the individual states can blunt that.”
California led the nation in new coronavirus cases on Sunday as the state reported 3,212 new cases in the previous 24 hours for a total of 148,855 cases and 74 new deaths for a death toll of 5,063
Florida reported 2,016 new cases within the previous 24 hours, the second consecutive day the state reported more than 2,000 new cases — a record 2,581.
North Carolina, Arizona and Alabama also reported more than 1,000 new cases each within the past 24 hours, according to worldometers.info, while Virginia reported 637 new cases.
New York, which leads the nation in cases and deaths reported 694 new cases for a total of 383,324 positive cases and 23 new deaths for a death toll of 24,551. At one time in April, 799 deaths were reported in one day.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo threatened state action against businesses and individuals who fail to follow reopening guidelines including revoking liquor licenses from restaurants and bars and fines for people carrying open containers or not wearing masks during protests, citing 25,000 complaints of reopening violations mostly stemming from Manhattan and the Hamptons.
“Lots of violations of social distancing, parties in the street, restaurants and bars ignoring laws,” Cuomo wrote on Twitter. “Enforce the law or there will be state action.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced the state reported 40 new deaths for death toll of 12,625 and 305 new cases for a total of 166,881, trailing only New York.
Massachusetts reported 336 new cases for a total of 105,395 and 38 new deaths for a total of 7,576 as of Saturday.
As of Sunday, Illinois reported 6,308 deaths and 132,543 positive cases while Pennsylvania reported a death toll of 6,215 and 78,798 cases.
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