WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday clarified statements he made a day earlier about the coronavirus in the United States, saying the disease is under better control in the U.S, but that the pandemic isn't over.
It marked a bit of a change in tone from what he said in interviews Tuesday.
"We are certainly, right now, in this country, out of the pandemic phase," Dr. Anthony Fauci told PBS NewsHour. "Namely, we don't have 900,000 new infections a day and tens and tens and tens of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths. We are at a low level right now. So, if you're saying are we out of the pandemic phase in this country? We are."
However, on Wednesday, Fauci told CBS News that the pandemic is not over but that the U.S. is in a "decelerated" and "much more controlled phase."
Fauci's earlier comments have a lot of people talking. Just what does it mean to reach the end of the pandemic? Is the country there? The answer depends on whom you ask.
"That's what happened yesterday. On April 26, Dr. Fauci essentially said the pandemic, at least in the US, is over," said UCSF infectious disease expert Dr. Monica Gandhi.
A longtime advocate for relaxed COVID measures, Gandhi had been waiting for the comment for some time, and she's not surprised it came Tuesday.
"What he is really referring to is we have a CDC study that shows us that 60% of adults and 75% of children have been exposed to COVID-19," Gandhi explained.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, also from UCSF, told KPIX 5, "We're transitioning. We're not in an endemic phase. We're not in a catastrophic phase."
Chin-Hong said it's important to look at the numbers. According to the CDC, the majority of Americans have already had COVID-19, and so have 75% of children.
"Our hospitals seem to be okay right now, but if times get a little bit rougher in the future, I think we may need to be a little bit more austere," he said.
"The one thing I've learned in this pandemic is to be humble," said UC Berkeley's Dr. John Swartzberg. "This virus is always going to do what's going to do and it's very hard to predict. And so anything you say about where we are and we're going has to be said with humility."
Swartzberg, like Dr. Fauci, noted that the virus isn't going away.
"I just don't want people to hear the headlines, and see it say 'pandemic is over,'" Swartzberg said. "Because certainly I don't think Dr. Fauci intended to get that message across."
A lot of people heard Dr. Fauci's comments.
"Oh yes, I did," said Patty Page of Concord. "So I am wearing my mask at half staff."
Page does not feel like the pandemic is over.
"Because I'm old," Page said. "And I'm around people who are old all the time. Everyone is wearing their masks and not going anywhere, that sort of thing. So the older part of the population is acting like it's not over."
"I do feel that the pandemic is almost over," said Habib Jacifi, owner of Luna Ristorante in Concord. "Just from seeing that a lot of our customers are coming back. A lot of the workers in the buildings downtown are back."
In January, Jacifi was checking vaccine cards during a very quiet lunch. On Wednesday there was not an empty table inside. He says the pandemic, technically or not, is clearly giving way to more confidence.
"I feel like it's getting better and better. Just in the past month and a half, we've seen a lot of changes," Jacifi said. "Just people feeling comfortable, and ready to come back to normal."
Fauci himself is still taking precautions when it comes to COVID.
He is backing out of the White House correspondent's dinner this Saturday due to COVID concerns.
Fauci told the New York Times he made the decision based on an assessment of his personal risk.
Katie Nielsen contributed reporting.
Wilson Walker
Wilson Walker joined KPIX 5 in July 2007. After 10 years producing newscasts, Wilson became a Multimedia Journalist (MMJ) in 2012, meaning he shoots, writes and edits all of his own stories.
COVID: After optimistic comment, Fauci cautions pandemic isn't over in U.S.
By Wilson Walker
/ CBS San Francisco
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday clarified statements he made a day earlier about the coronavirus in the United States, saying the disease is under better control in the U.S, but that the pandemic isn't over.
It marked a bit of a change in tone from what he said in interviews Tuesday.
"We are certainly, right now, in this country, out of the pandemic phase," Dr. Anthony Fauci told PBS NewsHour. "Namely, we don't have 900,000 new infections a day and tens and tens and tens of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths. We are at a low level right now. So, if you're saying are we out of the pandemic phase in this country? We are."
However, on Wednesday, Fauci told CBS News that the pandemic is not over but that the U.S. is in a "decelerated" and "much more controlled phase."
Fauci's earlier comments have a lot of people talking. Just what does it mean to reach the end of the pandemic? Is the country there? The answer depends on whom you ask.
"That's what happened yesterday. On April 26, Dr. Fauci essentially said the pandemic, at least in the US, is over," said UCSF infectious disease expert Dr. Monica Gandhi.
A longtime advocate for relaxed COVID measures, Gandhi had been waiting for the comment for some time, and she's not surprised it came Tuesday.
"What he is really referring to is we have a CDC study that shows us that 60% of adults and 75% of children have been exposed to COVID-19," Gandhi explained.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, also from UCSF, told KPIX 5, "We're transitioning. We're not in an endemic phase. We're not in a catastrophic phase."
Chin-Hong said it's important to look at the numbers. According to the CDC, the majority of Americans have already had COVID-19, and so have 75% of children.
"Our hospitals seem to be okay right now, but if times get a little bit rougher in the future, I think we may need to be a little bit more austere," he said.
"The one thing I've learned in this pandemic is to be humble," said UC Berkeley's Dr. John Swartzberg. "This virus is always going to do what's going to do and it's very hard to predict. And so anything you say about where we are and we're going has to be said with humility."
Swartzberg, like Dr. Fauci, noted that the virus isn't going away.
"I just don't want people to hear the headlines, and see it say 'pandemic is over,'" Swartzberg said. "Because certainly I don't think Dr. Fauci intended to get that message across."
A lot of people heard Dr. Fauci's comments.
"Oh yes, I did," said Patty Page of Concord. "So I am wearing my mask at half staff."
Page does not feel like the pandemic is over.
"Because I'm old," Page said. "And I'm around people who are old all the time. Everyone is wearing their masks and not going anywhere, that sort of thing. So the older part of the population is acting like it's not over."
"I do feel that the pandemic is almost over," said Habib Jacifi, owner of Luna Ristorante in Concord. "Just from seeing that a lot of our customers are coming back. A lot of the workers in the buildings downtown are back."
In January, Jacifi was checking vaccine cards during a very quiet lunch. On Wednesday there was not an empty table inside. He says the pandemic, technically or not, is clearly giving way to more confidence.
"I feel like it's getting better and better. Just in the past month and a half, we've seen a lot of changes," Jacifi said. "Just people feeling comfortable, and ready to come back to normal."
Fauci himself is still taking precautions when it comes to COVID.
He is backing out of the White House correspondent's dinner this Saturday due to COVID concerns.
Fauci told the New York Times he made the decision based on an assessment of his personal risk.
Katie Nielsen contributed reporting.
In:- COVID-19
- Pandemic
- Coronavirus
Wilson Walker joined KPIX 5 in July 2007. After 10 years producing newscasts, Wilson became a Multimedia Journalist (MMJ) in 2012, meaning he shoots, writes and edits all of his own stories.
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