The United States is still in the first wave of Covid-19, SiriusXM, the country's leading infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said on radio.
"People ask, 'Are we concerned about a second wave? "And I keep telling people," What are you talking about a second wave? We are actually knee-deep in the first wave. "We never really got out of it," said Fauci in a pre-recorded interview with SiriusXM Doctor Radio broadcast on Friday.
"The thing that confuses people - not only in our own country but around the world - we have a very large country and it is very heterogeneous. I mean, the New York metropolitan area is very, very different from Casper, Wyoming, or a city in Montana or a city in the southwest, "added Fauci. "So things are happening at different rates and different things are really changing."
Fauci went on to explain how the New York metropolitan area was hit hard at the start of the pandemic and is now doing well - with declining cases, hospitalizations and deaths - compared to other parts of the United States.
"I believe they will succeed. What we are seeing right now in some southern states is that you have really had some sort of variability in how it has been handled. Some states have actually decided to open up , but probably did it prematurely and not adhering to the gateway guidelines from phase one to phase 2. Other states have done it well, but the state people have adopted a all or nothing attitude, "said Fauci.