The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director spoke candidly about the current dire state of the pandemic across the U.S. He warned that if too many people choose not to abide by the basic health guidelines and advisories set by health officials such as social distancing and wearing face masks, a bad situation could be made far worse. “The chances are that you will see a surge superimposed on a surge,” Fauci predicted. “Things lag by a couple of weeks, so what we’re seeing now is what happened two-plus weeks ago. What we’re doing now is going to be reflected two, three weeks from now.” Fauci said we could see the U.S. hit 300,000 deaths or more than that if people do not act responsibly during the holidays. “It is within our power to not let those numbers happen,” Fauci added. “You don’t have to accept those numbers as being inevitable. There are things you can do about it.” Read on to see what those are, and for more on how much the pandemic is affecting your area, check out This Is How Bad the COVID Outbreak Is in Your State.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb Read the original article on Best Life. Echoing the guidelines released by the CDC last week, Fauci urged Americans to resist the urge to travel and to cut back their Thanksgiving celebration to only include members of their own household this year. “Try as best as you can to keep congregate meetings indoors—as innocent and wonderful as they sound—to a minimal number of people, preferably just members of a household,” Fauci said. “I know this is a difficult thing to do, but we’re in a very difficult situation.” And for more advice on keeping the virus at bay, know that If You’re Doing This, You Won’t Be Totally Safe From COVID on Thanksgiving. Fauci also took the opportunity to address how with numbers currently above the previous peaks set over the spring and summer, it is now more important than ever to follow basic health guidelines. He implored everyone to wash or sanitize their hands regularly, wear a face mask whenever in public, avoid large crowds, and keep six feet of distance between themselves and others when out of the house. “If you did those simple things, you would diminish considerably the likelihood that you would get infected,” Fauci said. And for more on your PPE, read up on why If Your Face Mask Has One of These, Stop Using It Immediately. Fauci said that if you’re going to have people over for dinner, which he doesn’t advise, it’s best to dine al fresco. “I know this can be difficult given the constraints with the weather that we have,” he admitted. And for more regular updates on the pandemic, sign up for our daily newsletter. Even if you only notice a slight scratch in your throat or are feeling a little sleepy, it’s best to stay home, Fauci explains. “The early symptoms of COVID-19 are very similar to a flu-like syndrome,” he said, citing fever, sore throat, congestion, muscle aches, fatigue, and loss of smell and taste as the most common. “If any of those symptoms appear, people should be careful… and stay home.” And for more on these early symptoms, check out If You Can’t Smell These 2 Things, You May Have COVID.
